Rangers have moved at a snail’s pace to replace several key figures at the top of their football hierarchy.
Still, without three key directors including; a permanent chairman, academy director and head of football operations, the Ibrox outfit at least seems to be finally getting its house in order.
The appointment of Patrick Stewart as incoming CEO is a positive one, however, Rangers should be wary of inheriting a problem that the former Man Utd CEO was a part of at Old Trafford.
Man Utd transfer failures that Patrick Stewart must avoid at Rangers
Much has been made of the Premier League outfit’s recruitment in recent years, particularly since Erik ten Hag was made manager.
Antony had been scouted and written off as a target under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a maximum valuation of £25m.
Ten Hag was keen to bring a player he knew well to Old Trafford, but a limit of £60m was placed on the winger’s shoulders, only for a deal in the region of £86m plus add ons to be agreed.
Writing in The Athletic for a special report, Laurie Whitwell spoke to individuals behind the scenes at Man Utd with one detail a potential cause for concern for Rangers:
“Those with an understanding of United’s structure say several directors are involved in ‘checks and balances’ during a transfer window, including chief financial officer Cliff Baty and general counsel Patrick Stewart, who is now interim chief executive, which leads to slower progress on negotiations. Joel Glazer, based in the US, adds a final layer of sign-off,” claimed the report in The Athletic.
“But ultimately the system falters because, at crucial moments, United can decide to pay over the odds for a player and break their budget. Sources insist there is nobody at the club skilled at assessing a player’s worth who also has authority on spending and can take a holistic view of squad building.”
What should Stewart do to improve Rangers transfer strategy?
Stewart is a shrewd operator in the boardroom, at executive level and in the courtroom, what he isn’t, is an individual who could put a valuation on a 20-year old Serbian Under-21 international playing in a second or third tier league.
However, this is where he needs to make the right decisions in terms of the football structure.
Nils Koppen is in place as technical director and will be helped by the manager, but they can’t do it all on their own.
A replacement for Koppen as a recruitment director or head of scouting and analysis would add another “football brain” to the department and help to minimise mistakes.
Also, the last thing Rangers fans need is to be signing players on the closing days of transfer windows, they want to see a concerted plan and swift movement.
Stewart might not have been CEO at Man Utd for long, but he is an incredibly clever man, hopefully, clever enough to realise how it shouldn’t be done when it comes to the business of football transfers.
