Rangers have lost lead domestic scout Robert Clarkson from the club’s recruitment team as he moves down south to head up the English FA’s Talent ID from U18 to senior level.
As revealed by the Athletic, Clarkson has been at Rangers since 2017 and was initially appointed by Mark Allen as part of the club’s restructuring of the scouting system.
Robert Clarkson will now be involved in the identification of top talent from across the English talent pool and as such will have a hand in Gareth Southgate’s recruitment strategy.
Clarkson will follow the likes of Andy Scoulding out of the club this summer – the chief scout moving on to Tottenham Hotspur – with Rangers now restructuring their recruitment team.
Former Celtic scout John Park, who helped unearth several big names at Parkhead including Victor Wanyama and Virgil van Dijk, has been drafted in to fill the void but not as a direct replacement for those who have left the club.
This comes as part of the aforementioned restructuring at Ibrox.
Robert Clarkson was part of the recruitment team who helped build the title-winning Ibrox squad of 20/21 and the club back into a European force.
Rangers recruitment under the microscope as Robert Clarkson leaves
The decision to leave the club comes at interesting time as Rangers fans criticise a perceived lack of investment in the playing squad over the last few years.
The Rangers team has a very familiar look about it and after a stuttering start to the season and a lack of post-Champions League investment, the pressure is on Giovanni van Bronckhorst to turn things around.
The Rangers fans aren’t the only one who have been taking aim at the club’s recruitment as of late either as Robert Clarkson leaves the club.
Ex-chairman Dave King remains the largest single shareholder at Ibrox and the former Gers chief has been out in the last few days demanding answers from the Rangers board.