Former Rangers captain David Weir is the perfect man to replace outgoing sporting director Ross Wilson.
The Nottingham Forest bound recruitment boss always polarised the support, primarily due to his record in the transfer market, but the majority of criticism seemed to stem from a lack of clarity over his role at Auchenhowie.
Rangers News has reported how Michael Beale is set to get more of a say in transfer decisions and a subtle change in role for any new potential sporting director could reflect this but we need to get the appointment right.
Under Ross Wilson, Rangers hoped to build a model where managers, coaches and players across the whole club could come and go and there would be a ready made replacement already lined up – the role of sporting director should be no different.
David Weir should be top of the list to replace Ross Wilson
One name who immediately springs to mind is David Weir.
The former Rangers captain might have left Ibrox under a cloud with Mark Warburton – ironically to go to Forest too – but he is now putting to good use his American collegiate education at Brighton in a technical director role similar to the one that Wilson occupied in Glasgow.
It would take a lot to pull the former Gers skipper away from a club that is as well run and respected as Brighton but in terms of someone knowing what it takes to be a Ranger and the idiosyncrasies of Scottish football, it’s David Weir.
The Premier League outfit are held up as the poster boys of English football in how to operate a successful player trading model whilst being competitive on the park, with Weir at the heart of their development.
Beale has had his influence name checked by both Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin in terms of how persuasive the Gers gaffer was and the work he put into their transfers, the prospect of a partnership with Weir is an intriguing one.
A more prominent role for Beale could see the next sporting director take a back seat when it comes to player identification, an issue that, ultimately, saw Wilson become the target for criticism.
In David Weir, there is a man who knows full well the baggage that comes with life in Glasgow’s Old Firm goldfish bowl but, more importantly, what it takes to be a winner.
