BERT Konterman hung on every word as a little-known Englishman gave chapter and verse to the Hampden auditorium. The address touched on his backstory as a city trader, his big brainwave with the NextGen Series, how statistical analysis had shaped his successes as manager of Brentford.

That man, of course, was Mark Warburton and he made quite an impression. Little did the Dutchman suspect that six months later the news would also reach him of his appointment as manager of Rangers.

“A year ago I was here for the intro to the UEFA pro licence course," said Konterman, now a youth coach at FC Twente. "And who was the speaker? Mark Warburton. The conference was at Hampden and I have to say he was new to me.

“I had never heard of him but he gave a fantastic presentation for two-and-a-half hours and was talking all about the statistics and the way they worked at Brentford," added the 45-year-old Dutchman, the scorer of a famous goal in the 2002 League Cup semi-final against Celtic. "He was down to earth and realistic and gave a very good presentation. Then six months later he is the new manager of Rangers and doing well.

“It was over two hours but everyone was concentrating and listening to him. It was realistic – he didn’t feed us any bulls**t. But he had a vision. So when I heard he was Rangers boss it gave me a positive feeling. When you look around football you see so many trainers who have no vision or idea about how to train or play. So when he came in I thought – finally – a man with a vision. And so far you can see that it works.”

Indeed, while Warburton never played senior football, Konterman pays him the ultimate compliment when he says there is something almost Dutch about his approach, with its methodical passing play and stress on technical and tactical elements. Where there are gaps in his knowledge, Konterman sees something of Johann Cruyff in his willingness to delegate to specialists in their field.

“I’ve done my homework on him and he plays a passing game and it’s very dynamic," said Konterman. "Even though opponents aren’t always the best he plays the same way and more often than not he beats them. There are things that look a little bit like the Dutch vision.

“Johann Cruyff became a boss in Holland again a few years ago and he knows everything about football," added Konterman. "But he did admit he didn’t know the details about planning, physical training et cetera so he decided to bring in assistant coaches who knew all this.

"Having a good team helps. That’s why the likes of [Ian] Durrant and [David] Weir help him to do the job. He is managing the whole team and he does so with intelligence. It’s not just about exercises on the pitch, clapping your hands and playing the ball to the good players and today we win the game. Mark is intelligent – he knows all the forces around the players and in football and he has a vision that he will work to achieve.”

While Konterman is sketchy on some of the details pertaining to Rangers' dealings with the football authorities in the summer of 2012, he feels that the likes of Ajax, PSV or Feyenoord would never have been dealt with so harshly had something similar happened to them. "I can't imagine the same thing happening with a big club in Holland, no way," he said. Unless Michel Platini, or perhaps more likely his one-time understudy Gianni Infantino, can make headway with Financial Fair Play, the big clubs in Scotland and the Netherlands alike will never return to their former glory.

The appointment of Warburton, though, is the best "move of the last three or four years", according to Konterman. Few around the club at this minute would argue. The Dutchman sees a young, ambitious team being constructed for the formidable challenge of tackling Celtic in the Premiership, but the hard part for the club may yet be keeping their leader there to fulfil it long term. The Englishman has been linked with QPR and Fulham already and more job offers would surely flood in should he pick up silverware this season.

“I have seen the highlights from the internet and Rangers look really good but Mark is already busy making a team for the Premiership," said Konterman. "I look at the ages of all the players and it’s a young team. It’s between 25 and 26 years old and that’s a fantastic thing. But three years is a long time for a manager. It is a nice dream but it sounds a bit like a fairytale. If Mark becomes a champion next year in the Premiership for example, a big club in England will bring him in. That’s the way it works with big money in football."

**Bert Konterman was speaking at a William hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup