Ibrox News Speaking to Tam McManus

Fri 27 January 2023 17:10, UK

We’re delighted to welcome Tam McManus as our exclusive Rangers columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Ibrox…

Tam McManus can see why Hibernian would want Rangers scout John Park as their new director of football after he was linked with a move to Easter Road.

The Scottish Sun reported on 24 January that the Edinburgh club has eyes on Park, who’s made a shortlist of “leading candidates” for the top recruitment job.

Park joined Rangers in the summer and has since worked alongside Ross Wilson to improve an ageing squad that’s started to show signs of regression.

It is understood that “it would take a significant offer” for Park to consider walking out of Ibrox as he’s currently “committed” to his job in Govan.

And while McManus has doubts about whether Park would leave Rangers for Hibs, he does believe that the capital club should at least hold some exploratory talks with the Ibrox transfer chief.

Speaking to Ibrox News, McManus said: “I’m not sure if he would leave but if you were the Hibs board, you’d definitely want to speak to him to at least get his thoughts.

“He’s worked at the highest level. He worked with Tony Mowbray in England with Sunderland and Blackburn, he’s worked at Celtic and now he’s working with Rangers. He’s got ties with a lot of big European clubs as well.

“If you’re Hibs and you’re looking for a director of football with contacts and a proven record of recruitment, this is the guy who took Virgil van Dijk to Celtic.

“He ticks a lot of boxes and Hibs need to at least ask the question.”

In Park’s time at Ibrox, Rangers have signed Antonio Colak, Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo, Malik Tillman, Ben Davies, Ridvan Yilmaz and Todd Cantwell.

It’s unclear how much of a role Park had in most of them as the balls were probably already rolling for some of the summer arrivals.

In other Rangers news, a club in Europe holds the option to re-sign a player from Ibrox whenever they like.