By Dan Carter

19th Oct, 2023 | 8:10pm

Craig Moore slams Rangers board for Ibrox decision that has taken too long

Craig Moore has slammed Rangers for taking too long to appoint a new director of football and said that the “important role” must be filled.

The Light Blues are looking for somebody to work alongside new manager Philippe Clement, with reports that Brighton’s Sam Jewell had been offered the position at Ibrox since being discredited following initial rumours [Daily Record, 18 October].

Moore has revealed that he initially suggested that the position needed to be filled when Michael Beale returned to the club before the former boss spent heavily in the summer on players that for the most part have failed to perform and ultimately seen him sacked at Ibrox.

Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show (19 October) as quoted by the Daily Record he said: “They absolutely need one and what they don’t need is an administrator. They need someone with football experience. It should never have taken this long, because it’s an important role. And I think it’s an important role at any football club.

“I had a discussion with Ally McCoist early, early when Michael Beale first got the job and we talked about a director of football. This was my concern at that particular time and it’s something that’s come back to bite Rangers in the bottom, unfortunately.

“They didn’t have that in place, they spent a lot of money and the person should have been in there. You still need to have protection for the football club. That for me has been lacking since Ross Wilson has left and it’s a position that 100 per cent needs to be filled.

“You need someone that is able to protect the long-term stability of the football club.”

Next task

Now that Rangers have Clement on board at Ibrox, their attentions have to turn to getting the rest of the club in order and that is from the top down as the issues on the blue side of Glasgow this year have been much greater than just having the wrong manager at the helm.

Beale’s recruitment in the summer was poor and he failed to get a tune out of his players and has deservedly paid the price for it, but why he was ever allowed to spend as much money as he did in the summer transfer window without buying quality is ridiculous.

As Moore suggested, there should be someone at the football club who is looking over the manager’s shoulder to ensure that he isn’t putting the team at risk, whether on the pitch or financially and that hasn’t been the case for several years at Ibrox.

Rangers need to ensure that they appoint somebody to take over this role sooner rather than later, as the last thing they want is to go through exactly the same process that they did with Beale under Clement and end up back at square one by this time next year.

In other Rangers news, the Light Blues are set to offer Ross McCausland a new contract according to Fabrizio Romano