Former Rangers captain Craig Moore has admitted that he’s open to a return to Ibrox this summer as the club looks to replace outgoing sporting director Ross Wilson.
Ross Wilson moved on from Rangers amid fan protests over the director’s squad management, with the ex-Southampton recruitment guru returning to the Premier League with Nottingham Forest.
Wilson’s was the first of several director exits at Ibrox heading into next season, with five major boardroom players vacating their seats as part of a major Rangers reshuffle.
Now, former Ibrox skipper Craig Moore – who had two spells at the club between the 90s and the early 2000s – has admitted he would be open to a return to Rangers in a recruitment capacity.
Craig Moore interested in Rangers return
This comes with the former Ibrox defender heavily involved in the world of agents and, of course, well versed in what it takes to make it at Rangers.
“Being an agent or a director of football is very similar,” Moore told the Daily Record.
“You’re looking at players, recruiting players, growing your network, negotiate.
“The role that I did in Australia was dealing with salary caps and budgets, I set up a medical department, built and started up the academy.
“We qualified for the Asian Champions League, we sold younger players – all the things you are expected to do as a director of football.
“I guess, what are Rangers going to do in that space is very, very interesting because clearly there’s a big restructure going on.
“And that’s going to happen on and off the field. So I’ve certainly been following what’s happening there because it’s an area where I am kind of interested. It’s an area I have worked in before.”
No contact from Ibrox
However, when asked about potential contact with Rangers about a sporting director role, Moore admitted he has not talked to any of the powerbrokers at the club regarding a move.
“Not at this moment in time,” said Moore.
“Obviously James Bisgrove is the new CEO, we’ve had communication but not about any particular roles as such. I haven’t spoken to John Bennett, the new chairman, so to answer your question, have I spoken to anyone in an influential position that is maybe making decisions at the football club? No.”
Moore came through the youth ranks at Rangers in 1994 and, after four years at Ibrox – where he was part of the 9IAR winning team – the centre-back moved to Crystal Palace.
One year later, Oz was back in Glasgow and would spend a further six seasons at Rangers, winning 13 major honours in total for the club, including six league titles.
The defender was eventually stripped of his Rangers captaincy in 2004 however, when he angered Alex McLeish by going to play with Australia at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
When it comes to the sporting director role, it’s not the first time Craig Moore has been mentioned alongside a Rangers return, and let’s see how the club choose to progress in the coming months.