(Ok, yes – I’m not proud of that title. But if I can’t share the awfulness with you, what’s the point?)
The last week, as Craig pointed out in his blog earlier, was a busy one for our squad, with seemingly intense training sessions taking the place of a usual break and the speculation surrounding our “Scottish Assistant” rife in various media outlets.
By far the biggest event of the week, though, was the appearance of Dave King and his numerous interviews discussing just about everything going on at our club right now. From the criticism of Warburton (although recognising his work with the youth teams was really nice to see) to the confirmation that he really doesn’t want to be doing the job he’s in right now, there was plenty revealed and loads that could be discussed.
For me, though, the most telling and potentially worrying statement was that surrounding the Director of Football role. It seems certain that we missed out on our top targets for the job around the time we hired Caixinha, with Ross Wilson knocking us back and Paul Mitchell not in place yet despite leaving Spurs a few weeks ago. Stewart Robertson described the recruitment process as “an art rather than a science” when asked about the search, and King has now confirmed that we’re looking at a matter of weeks rather than days before we can expect news on this.
And I’d love to believe we were just taking our time to get the right man…
Maybe it’s a hangover from previous regimes. Maybe I’m being utterly stupid and this will come back to haunt me, but in truth, I’m not sure Dave King is as convinced of the need for the role as the rest of the board are.
MORE RANGERS STORIES
He mentioned Pedro’s contacts, he talked about the manager having a huge say in the transfer targets, he brought up the worry that the summer is too short and we can’t be waiting too long to get players recruited – no mention of needing to get the Director of Football in to take charge of the recruitment strategy or to help the manager identify targets. I understand the need to get things done in the short term because we’ll be in those Europa League qualifiers before we know it, but we’re in a situation where the likelihood is, no matter the investment in the summer, we won’t qualify for the group stages of the Europa League.
(I have no fears over presumption of finishing high enough in the league to qualify for the qualifiers – no way Hearts are going to catch us)
So should that be the main focus? Should we be looking to make signings and spend cash on trying to get through a few games and ultimately running into a side miles ahead of us, or should we be making sure we get the right structure in place for the next few years and beyond before we do anything of major importance? Surely that’s the part we should be focusing on rather than a long shot which feels a bit beyond us at this stage?
If the Director of Football is to be in charge of the long-term strategy, to guide our manager in transfer dealings and to ensure the youth teams continue recent improvements, the need to get that role filled is far, far more important than anything we do in the next few months. If it means having to miss out on a couple of games in Europa League qualifiers that we would have struggled to win anyway, that’s more than worth it.
Everything about King and his statements in recent months makes me wonder just how much he’s able to look at a longer term picture with regards to Rangers. We haven’t had a good season, and Warburton certainly deserved criticism and had to go given his actions towards the end, but to expect a challenge in the league (that was his original assertion, which he’s amended this week) was crazy. We had nowhere near the resources available to do that. He’s judging the success of recent transfers on the results of this season when it’s clear players like Rossiter, Dodoo, Windass and Crooks were signed to make us money in the future more than anything else. That doesn’t even consider the first season of signings who mostly have a value above what was paid for them, even if they haven’t pulled up trees in the top league so far. Again, the success of signings is being judged by short-term measurements, when it was plainly obvious the short term was always going to be difficult.
I’m not convinced at all that King agrees with the rest of the board on the need for a Director of Football, something I think is of vital importance going forward. I’m happy with the idea that we’re trying to find the right man for the role, and would also be happy to wait, but if the role isn’t about transfer policy and youth development, as suggested by King’s statements, what is the point? His statements suggest he’s happy to leave that in the hands of the manager – does that sound like someone who thinks the Director of Football role is of vital importance?
Obviously, like any sane Rangers fan, I’m more than appreciative of what Dave King has done for our club, not only in the last couple of years but for a long time. He’s saved us from years of pain and has put in a lot of work to get us on the path to recovery. I just worry that his vision for Rangers is based far too much on our relative position to Celtic, and that’s not going to get us to where we need to be in the most efficient way. If we start the season well come the summer, and we haven’t filled that role, I’m not convinced King will see the need for it, and whilst he doesn’t run the show, he certainly signs off on any major decisions. If his view is at odds with the rest of the board on the need for a Director of Football, it’s almost certain that it won’t happen, and nothing he’s said so far makes me think he’s going in the same direction as the rest. Hopefully, I’m wrong…