Ross Wilson has spoken out about his decision to turn down the opportunity to leave Premier League club Southampton, where he is director of football operations, to become Director of Football at Rangers.
In March 2017, before the appointment of Pedro Caixinha, Wilson was approached by the Gers but opted to stay at St Mary’s.
That decision looked very good during a turbulent 2017/18, but the picture has changed under Steven Gerrard so far this term and Wilson has revealed how happy he is to see the club turning it around.
He said: “It was one of the most difficult decisions of my career not to take that job at that particular time. It is a club which has so much history, such high standards and such an attraction to it, because of the size of opportunity.
“There are a lot of people inside Rangers who I would consider friends of mine, who I keep in touch with and keep on top of how things are going.
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“I am delighted to see how well things are going at the moment, they are playing with pride, there is a lot of excitement and the fans are turning up in huge numbers to support the club and the investment they have made. It is a hugely exciting time for Rangers.
“There are some excellent operators there, whether it is the chairman Dave King right through Stewart Robertson, Andrew Dickson and Mark Allen, who is doing a great job there since coming up from Manchester City.”
Perhaps the most interesting element of Wilson’s quotes are his enthusiastic and effusive praise of how the current Ibrox regime is being run.
There is a long way to go in order to make Rangers a consistent force on the pitch and a stable entity off it, but Wilson clearly believes that Allen and other are moving towards doing exactly that.
Obviously crucial to that is appointing the right manager and the early signs are that Gerrard is doing a better job than Caixinha was able to.