Rangers are gradually improving on the pitch, however, there is still a lot of work to be done off it with John Gilligan updating fans in his first task as interim chairman.
Replacing John Bennett who resigned due to ill health, Gilligan has several vacancies to fill on his to do list with appointing a CEO and permanent chairman at the top of his agenda.
In a detailed press conference, there were several points raised by the chairman, including the profile of CEO that Rangers are looking for.
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Rangers chairman details essential CEO qualities
With James Bisgrove handing in his notice before the end of last season, the expectation would be that his replacement would already be in post, however, a crisis with the upgrade of Ibrox saw the hunt put onto the back burner as the manager struggled manfully in the transfer market to rebuild a bruised and battered squad.
Gilligan touched on a number of subjects, but his description of who he wants as CEO is an interesting one:
“They need to have a strong business acumen, knowledge, experience,” Gilligan said.
“They need to have run businesses where there is pressure and they need to deliver.
“It can’t be a comfortable business because the stress and pressure of a football club is very big.
“They need to be a good communicator and good at getting to people.
“They need to have a tremendous work ethic, because it goes without saying it’s unbelievably difficult.
“And last it needs to be a good person, I like decent people.”
It seems pretty straight forward.
Adrian Bevington knows exactly what Rangers CEO job needs
The only name with a concrete connection was Jim Gillespie, who Gilligan also talked about, but when former FA chief Adrian Bevington threw his hat into the ring, it raised a few eyebrows.
Not only did Bevington reveal that he had held talks with the board, he also detailed the qualities needed to be a CEO at Rangers:
“What I would say, is whoever the chief executive is going to be for Rangers has got to be someone who can show real leadership, is a good communicator, got to have a real understanding of the game and the industry, knowledge of the transfer market.
“Yes, they have got to be commercially strong to increase the revenues but ultimately I think they have got to have football industry nous and a real common sense and the ability to work relationships.
“If you have got all of that you’ve got a chance but it is still a very demanding, difficult job for whoever that person may be.
“I think with a club like Rangers with the stature that they have in the game – and even though they are going through a challenging period at this time – Rangers Football Club should be able to attract someone who has that stature and the ability to lead from the front but also have a real good understanding of how the industry works and a great network of contacts and relationships with people right throughout the game in Scotland but also at UEFA, the European Club Association.
“There are people within Celtic who have some of those relationships already and Rangers should be expecting similar.”
Bevington basically went into even more depth than Gilligan.
He also ticks most of the boxes.
That communication, business acumen, experience, awareness of the demands and strong leadership all come up as qualities required shows that Bevington, at least, knows what to expect and what Gilligan is looking for.
If the former Club England managing director isn’t appointed, Rangers will have had to pull a rabbit out of the hat to get someone better qualified.
