Craig Whyte scuppered a tie-up with Tottenham that would have seen some of Europe’s top kids sent to Rangers on loan.
Dundee are currently working on a groundbreaking arrangement with Everton that would see the Goodison outfit farm young players out to gain experience.
But the Light Blues would have beaten them to it by three years had their controversial former owner not given the cold shoulder to a plan that would have brought the likes of David Bentley, Danny Rose and Kyle Naughton to Ibrox.
The idea was the brainchild of former Rangers Director of Football, Gordon Smith, and ex-Chief Operating Officer, Ali Russell.
The radical suggestion was to take young players IN from Spurs, while sending Murray Park prospects OUT to Charlton Athletic, then in England’s League One.
“It made a lot of sense,” said Smith, who, like Russell, was made redundant when the club went into administration.
“We would have been able to give the Spurs kids experience of playing in a top league, in front of big crowds, in competitive games.
“That would have definitely stood them in good stead for their future in the English Premier League.
“At the same time, the tie-up with Charlton would have let our young players develop in an environment that wasn’t quite so demanding as that they would encounter making the step up to first-team level with Rangers.
“We had talks with Charlton, and they were very enthusiastic about the idea.
“Harry Redknapp, who was the Spurs manager at the time, was also very receptive when I discussed what we could offer Spurs and he offered us a player straight away!
“However, the way Rangers was set up, we needed the go ahead from Craig Whyte to progress things beyond discussion level. And though he did say he found it interesting, the fact was he chose not to do anything about it.
“I think that is a shame because it could have worked out well for all parties.
“I’d expect that will become apparent if Dundee get Everton players up to Dens Park.
“You can only imagine it being a success, and they deserve a lot of credit for putting this together.”
The Dens Park link has been facilitated by manager Paul Hartley’s friendship with his former St Johnstone team-mate, Graeme Jones, and is being backed by Dundee’s Director of Football Operations, John Nelms.
Jones is assistant manager to Everton boss Roberto Martinez at the Merseyside club.
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