Philippe Clement inherited something of a mess when he arrived to take over at Rangers.
Things eventually got worse on and off the park until recently, when a tactical change by the manager saw him get more out of his squad than was previously thought possible.
One of the issues was that there was no sporting director when he arrived, with Nils Koppen joining afterwards to help with recruitment after Ross Wilson jumped ship to the Premier League – someone who now has every right to feel smug.
Ross Wilson proves recruitment point after Rangers exit
Wilson’s last few recruitment attempts at Rangers saw him botch the January transfer window of 2022, the summer window of the same year, before redeeming himself slightly with Nicolas Raskin and Todd Cantwell in January 2023.
A lot of money was spent, however, the vast majority of it was wasted on players like Ben Davies, Rabbi Matondo and Ridvan Yilmaz.
Over £10m for players who spend more time in the treatment room than on the pitch, no wonder Rangers fans celebrated his departure.
Only Raskin and John Souttar remain key players from his time running the recruitment department.
Wilson has struck gold at the City Ground after appointing Nuno Espírito Santo to save them from the drop last season.
Wilson recruitment praised as Forest transfer supremo comes good
The signings of Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo has also paid dividends as the centre half pairing provide the foundation for Forest to sit third in the Premier League:
“The beauty of Nottingham Forest is that there are two centre-backs who are as good as the Arsenal boys Gabriel and Saliba, they’re incredible,” praised Damien Delaney on Premier Sports punditry duty via Nottingham Forest News.
“I know it was a three today with Morato but when the ball goes into the box they just want to head it, get in the way. When their attacking players do have an off day, they will keep clean sheets and they will keep getting points.”
If only Wilson had left players of such quality for Clement to inherit.
