Rangers set for ‘absolutely fundamental’ Ibrox appointment as imminent James Bisgrove, John Bennett talks confirmed
James Bisgrove has confirmed that he and Rangers chairman John Bennett are set for talks in the coming days to finalise the appointment of a new director of football at Ibrox.
Speaking at the fan forum Q&A on 7 November the Gers chief executive said, as per 4 Lads Had A Dream, that the pair have meetings planned for the “end of the week” and that the appointment is now in the “final stages”.
The post has been left unfilled since Ross Wilson left for Nottingham Forest last April, with Michael Beale assuming some of the responsibilities himself until he was replaced by Philippe Clement last month, at which point Bisgrove had emphasised how “absolutely fundamental” the football governance at Rangers is to club success, with the upcoming arrival seen as the “final piece of the off-field jigsaw” for Bisgrove and Bennett by Chris Jack.
Bisgrove said: “Coming to [the] final stages, [the] chairman and I will have more meetings in London at end of the week. That individual will lead our recruitment team and liaise with Creag [Robertson] with everything in our football department.
“Our football board is vital, this appointment will compliment that. You can see in recruitment in this club how important that is. We are moving to the final stages on this.”
He had previously said upon the appointment of Clement, as per Rangers Review (7 November): “Both the chairman and I recognise that the leadership, the governance of the football department is absolutely fundamental to our short, medium and long term success.
“In that regard, we have a football board with a number of leaders across the football department. We have our chief scout, John Park, who sits on that, we have Creag Robertson, our director of football operations, the chairman and myself, the manager, Dr Mark Waller, our director of medical and performance, and our academy director.
“We feel we have got a really strong group of leaders that will implement the football strategy and take key decisions, whether that is player contracts, player acquisitions. All of that said, we do believe a director of football, a technical director, is something that will add additional value.”
Long enough
Many supporters were highly critical of Wilson before he departed the club, but the decision to allow Beale to lead the squad overhaul in the summer himself has so far backfired badly, not least for the former manager himself.
There appeared to be some suggestion that the sporting director role was being worked on over the summer but months later it is still unfilled.
Norwich City’s Stuart Webber has reportedly already turned down Rangers once but has been linked to the job more recently all the same as he leaves Carrow Road.
If new boss Clement is going to be supported properly, especially ahead of the January transfer window that could feasibly be the difference between a title race or not, then it would seem a positive move to get the appointment made sooner or later.
Bisgrove going to such great lengths to focus on how important that operation is to the club leaves him and Bennett, as well as predecessors Douglas Park and Stewart Robertson, open to question as to why it has taken so long to get to this point.
Now, supporters will have to hope it is a case of better late than never once the new face arrives and that they can contribute to ending a destabilising cycle of hiring and firing at manager and a hit and miss record in the transfer market.
In other Rangers news, what a resurgent Ibrox ace has said recently is set to cause a “certain” reaction.