Ricksen in action against England last week (RossKinnaird/Allsport)

That is Ricksen's wish, anyway, each time he stands on the sidelines of the astroturf, opposite Ibrox Stadium, to watch Wim train with young hopefuls whose dreams are fuelled by the mighty and historic structure across Edmiston Drive.

For it is on the pitch on the other side of the red brick structure that Ricksen has been the subject of considerable bad fortune and ridicule for the majority of his 20-month stay in Scotland. As a result, a reputation for indiscipline still stalks his every move in a Rangers jersey.

Wim, however, is already a bright boy, according to Ricksen, who has often been forced to give him the red card to his bedroom before Sportscene's opening titles after the youngster has passed comment on Rangers performances.

'Most of the time he says: "I had to go inside for the second half - I couldn't watch it any more," explained Ricksen. 'I say: "You are 11-years-old, what do you know? Go to your bed!"

'He always tells me when I have a bad game but, to be fair, most of the time he knows what he is talking about.'

The clashes of opinion between Fernando and Wim, who is Ricksen's wife Graciela's child from a previous relationship, are few and far between these days, though. For Fernando is a new man.

Four bookings and one red card this season may not be the pride of many players but it is to Ricksen, while the statistic of having one impressive starting appearance for Holland - in last week's draw against England - is more relevant.

Ricksen's stock in both his homeland and his adopted Glasgow has the opportunity to rise further this Thursday when Dutch Premier Division pacesetters Feyenoord land at Ibrox for the first leg of their UEFA Cup last 16 tie.

After the composed display against England's Emile Heskey, Ricksen is confident that the rash conduct that marred his first year in Scotland and threatened to derail a promising career is an irritant of the past.

'Now that I feel better, more comfortable and am playing well with no problems, it's easier not to get frustrated and get into situations,' he explained. 'I am very happy with things I can control now. Sometimes I still need the aggression because it's the way that I play and I want to win every time.

'But the bad things all stemmed from frustration. I had a bad period, not just in football but in my whole life. If things go wrong outside of football, then you get your problems out on the pitch, let your energy out.

'But I couldn't do it either because I was too mixed up in myself. When I went on the pitch, I was irritated quicker and I was reacting when everything went wrong.

'I went from a small club like AZ to a big club like Rangers and didn't know what to expect with a new country, new lifestyle and everything. In the beginning, I couldn't bring what was expected of me.'

Alex McLeish felt compelled to ask Scotland's referees to play a fairer game with Ricksen recently. The 25-year-old was booked in games against Hibernian and Dunfermline, while other players escaped unpunished for identical offences.

Ricksen's incredulous and exasperated looks to his new bosses in the dugout after these incidents suggest that he is well aware that his reputation is preceding his tackles. But, with refreshing honesty, he kicks sympathy into touch by admitting only he is to blame.

'I brought it all on myself and I have to learn to live with it,' he admitted. 'Referees see me straight away as someone really aggressive.

'But if I play well, like now, then I don't make stupid tackles. If I make them hard, then I almost always get the ball. If I don't, then they can book me, but if refs see me go into a tackle then they already think that's a hard tackle. I got the reputation for myself - it's my own fault. The only way I can get rid of it is to play like this and not get booked.

'I don't feel the foreigners are picked on, though. The referees do it with Barry Ferguson, too. He got booked against Celtic in the CIS Cup because he said something to the referee about a situation. They see him as being an aggressive player and give him a yellow card.'

Until his recent renaissance as one of the most-promising Dutch internationalists, Ricksen had done little for Rangers to make young Wim proud of him as a footballer.

He is much more confident in his surroundings now, though, and has even brought Wim into Press conferences to see how one of the other responsibilities of being a high profile Rangers player works.

All of which could prepare Ricksen junior for following in Fernando's footsteps, which were once so clumsy, but now might tread a path to a most successful career for Rangers and Holland.

'I love seeing Wim train and I go every week to watch,' he said. 'The best thing is he can see up to the stadium where it says Rangers Football Club and that's incredible for a young boy to train there, something very special.

'That can make him ambitious because he can look across the road at a dream if he succeeds. He loves to tackle, run around and win - like me. He is also quite quick.

'Every time he sees me play he takes everything in and watches what goes on - he is getting used to the life.

'He likes to be a striker, though, and doesn't like to play in defence. They all want to be a Ruud van Nistelrooy - not a Fernando Ricksen.

'But it gives me a lot of pride. I really want to see him become a footballer. He always shouts at me when I get booked, but he always tells me he's proud of me when we win.'