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Ross Wilson


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1 hour ago, esquire8 said:

More like a compensation fee, a % of the rest of his Southampton contract. Heard he will be changing up the scouting team and bring in a few new faces.

Interesting. I hope we go a litlle more diverse. We are predominently going Scottish and English based or folk we have played against. Would like to see a few more random names like Morelos 

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Allen did all the hard work in building, from scratch, the framework under which the football at all levels is run in our club which ought to make Wilsons job all the easier.

He will have extensive contacts in England which can only aid us and has years of experience in similar roles.

Time will tell if this a good move but I can see why the board went after him.

 

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ROSS WILSON, Southampton’s Director of Football Operations, has left the club to become Rangers’ new Sporting Director.

The 36-year-old replaces Mark Allen, who announced in September that he was leaving Ibrox for family reasons.

Wilson started his career at Falkirk and moved to Watford and Huddersfield Town before joining Southampton in 2015, initially as Director of Scouting and Recruitment. In 2018, he was promoted to Director of Football Operations.

The Scot, who held talks with Rangers two years ago but opted to stay in England, said: “Firstly, and I am sure it goes without saying, I am delighted to be joining Rangers. The vision and passion shared collectively by the Board and by Steven (Gerrard) in terms of the plans to continue to build the club are exciting.

"Equally, it was important that both the club and I shared the same understanding of the what this role is and what the football model and culture inside the club needs to look like going forward.

“The board have been resolute in all of our discussions both now and when we spoke in the past about what the club needs to look like and I am proud that they believe that I can help build the club upon standards that we all agree are right for Rangers.

“Having worked in football leadership for the last 15 years and for almost a decade in England now is a good time for me to return to Glasgow and be a part of this famous club. I am excited to start next month.

“Steven and his coaching team are doing a great job with things on the pitch, along with the players of course. I know some of the squad already and the others I will get to know quickly in the coming weeks. Steven and I are in regular contact and I am looking forward to working with him and developing our relationship further.

“This role is of course about continuing the development and growth of the club’s football operations and football infrastructure across the whole club. In that regard I am looking forward to working in and developing all areas of our football departments and none more so than the Academy with Craig Mulhollandand his team.

“I have chosen to leave a fantastic job and people who I am really close to. Southampton isn’t an easy place to leave and it had to be a really interesting opportunity to consider leaving behind what I had there.

“This job, at this stage in my career, was one I felt I had to take and I am both excited and determined to ensure that in working together with the board, Steven and all of our staff we can continue to build an excellent, modern football infrastructure and a winning Rangers.”

Rangers Managing Director Stewart Robertson added: “We have been aware of the capabilities and expertise of Ross for a long time and when we found we had to move for someone to fill the role left vacant by the departure of Mark Allen, we had no hesitation in looking again to Ross, who is highly regarded within the game.

“He has a terrific track record and he shares our view of what is required to restore Rangers as the dominant force in Scottish football.

"Ross also shares our vision, and that of our manager Steven Gerrard, of where we want to position this club in the years ahead.

“We are delighted Ross has chosen to join us to guide and add greater momentum to the progress already made and I look forward to working with him.”

SOUTHAMPTON RESPONSE

Although Southampton insisted this was a case of Wilson wanting to return home to Scotland, his departure represents a serious blow to them.

The club has seen the departures of Head of Performance Analysis Natasha Patel (to New York Red Bulls) and assistant manager Danny Rohl (to Bayern Munich) this season, while Vice Chairman Les Reed and Technical Director Martin Hunter were eased out in November 2018.

Southampton CEO Martin Semmens said: “From the moment Ross made me aware of the opportunity to return home to Scotland, it was clear that this was an opportunity he could not turn down at this time.

“I would like to put on record, on behalf of everyone involved in the club, our thanks for the tireless hard work and energy Ross has given to Saints over the last five years. Ross will leave the club with our best wishes on Tuesday 15th October.

“As the club has made clear over the past six months, we are reviewing all our football and non-football operations, to make sure we are best placed to enable a successful future for The Southampton Way. We will now seek to appoint a new Football Director in keeping with this vision for the club.

“We will update our fans when we can on any future appointment. For now, the expert and experienced team around Ralph Hasenhüttl will continue to support him to drive the team forward and up the Premier League 

Wilson added: “It has been a privilege to work for Southampton FC. In good times and in more difficult times I have enjoyed the challenge working alongside our outstanding staff with whom it has been so energising to work with behind the scenes. I will be forever indebted for their work, unwavering support and friendship. 

“The club will continue to move forward with a strong board in place and an excellent Manager in Ralph Hasenhüttl driving the team. Our Academy has a proud tradition and is heading in a positive direction and delivering players for the first team.

“Finally, I moved to the South Coast with no connection to Saints but leave a Saints fan, having made friends for life at the club. This is a special football club and I am proud to have been part of it.”

The Scotsman graduated from the University of Strathclyde with a degree in Social Science before spending seven years as Head of Football Development and Football Administration at Falkirk.

While at Falkirk, he completed a Masters in Sports Management at Stirling University and went on to join Watford as Football Business Director in 2011. In July 2012, he took up the position of Executive Director and Head of Football Operations at Huddersfield Town, before joining the Saints in March 2015.

https://trainingground.guru/articles/southamptons-wilson-appointed-Rangers-sporting-director

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Also, I think the following is a really good article (from the same place) to give a much better insight into the role.

WITH 15 Premier League clubs now employing a Sporting Director or equivalent, the question is no longer why the post is important, but rather how it can be executed effectively.

In an article for TGG last year, I identified the Sporting Director as one of five key roles transforming high-performance sport. Most people agree that this person is responsible for organising a club around an overarching vision and strategy.

What exactly does that mean though? And what capabilities are required to make the vision more than an unrealised statement of intent? That's something I'll explore further here.

https://trainingground.guru/articles/david-slemen-what-makes-an-effective-sporting-director

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I wonder which other candidates for Sporting Director the Club considered.   Any, none, or was Wilson to be shoe-horned in without a proper testing of the market, the Club having been spooked by Allen's sudden departure?    From the article on the Rangers website it seems to me to be a head-hunting job where there was only one candidate.    Is that really best practice for a role of this nature...….I'm not convinced.

So - to track record - Southampton, Watford, Huddersfield Town and Falkirk.  Preceded by learning stuff at university.     A stellar enough track record of actually delivering outstanding success?   IMO Rangers has appointed someone with a  journeyman track record of someone who has yet to make enough of  a visible and telling  contribution at a club with comparable ambition -and status - to Rangers.    A bet is being placed that he is somehow sufficiently experienced, competent and capable of performing a Sporting Director role at Rangers and in doing so be a vital part of the football leadership at Ibrox to bring home title 55 and cups, and European success.    This appointment has, to my mind, a feel of being more like a panic buy.     The need to do something quickly to plug an unexpected gap and then not (seemingly) bothering to do much of a serious test of the market to check who might be better alternative candidates.      

I hope the Club has taken all necessary care to get what it wants in making this appointment or the Club (and the Support) will be forced to like what we got in the appointment of Wilson.

It will be interesting to see what happens next.   By that I mean to note if any backroom staff departures start to happen, and if so who and the reasons for going and who. if anyone, replaces them.   A real and meaningful test will be the extent to which Wilson and Gerrard find they are able to work effectively and well together.   

Is Wilson really the best available candidate and did Rangers test the market to see which other better qualified and more experienced candidates might have been available?   I don't suppose we'll ever have that level of transparency from the Rangers exec team.    They've made their choice and that is that.  Closed chapter for them.  They move on to next topic. 

 

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7 minutes ago, Blueteeth said:

Same, there just seems a hell of a lot of crossover between what a manager should do and what a sporting director does.

 

Completely unnecessary in Scotland and having seen the players Mark Allen brought in and the ones that actually worked out I wouldn't even call it a success

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Coaches role is to work with the team, SD role is more the business side.

I'd rather SG is working with the 1st team to get the next victory rather than sitting in an office wondering where he can source a new bit of equipment or hiring a new full time under 15 coach.

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7 hours ago, Reformation Bear said:

I wonder which other candidates for Sporting Director the Club considered.   Any, none, or was Wilson to be shoe-horned in without a proper testing of the market, the Club having been spooked by Allen's sudden departure?    From the article on the Rangers website it seems to me to be a head-hunting job where there was only one candidate.    Is that really best practice for a role of this nature...….I'm not convinced.

So - to track record - Southampton, Watford, Huddersfield Town and Falkirk.  Preceded by learning stuff at university.     A stellar enough track record of actually delivering outstanding success?   IMO Rangers has appointed someone with a  journeyman track record of someone who has yet to make enough of  a visible and telling  contribution at a club with comparable ambition -and status - to Rangers.    A bet is being placed that he is somehow sufficiently experienced, competent and capable of performing a Sporting Director role at Rangers and in doing so be a vital part of the football leadership at Ibrox to bring home title 55 and cups, and European success.    This appointment has, to my mind, a feel of being more like a panic buy.     The need to do something quickly to plug an unexpected gap and then not (seemingly) bothering to do much of a serious test of the market to check who might be better alternative candidates.      

I hope the Club has taken all necessary care to get what it wants in making this appointment or the Club (and the Support) will be forced to like what we got in the appointment of Wilson.

It will be interesting to see what happens next.   By that I mean to note if any backroom staff departures start to happen, and if so who and the reasons for going and who. if anyone, replaces them.   A real and meaningful test will be the extent to which Wilson and Gerrard find they are able to work effectively and well together.   

Is Wilson really the best available candidate and did Rangers test the market to see which other better qualified and more experienced candidates might have been available?   I don't suppose we'll ever have that level of transparency from the Rangers exec team.    They've made their choice and that is that.  Closed chapter for them.  They move on to next topic. 

 

He was no.1 target before MA got the job before, so they see something they like in him, hence going for him again when the position became available.

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4 minutes ago, To Be A Ranger said:

He's getting a lot of flak from them regarding a few overly expensive shit signings that they can't get rid of. Hopefully they're exaggerating a bit.

Not a trick he can dare repeat at Rangers.   He'll be shopping in budget markets he's not used to shopping in and with money where every penny spent needs to be spent as wisely as possible.   Sure every club ends up with signings that just don't work out and end up being judged as duds.    IMO there is a lot less room for that sort of misjudgement at still cash-strapped Rangers than at Southampton with the flow of funds they get from EPL status.      Has he really got the experience and skillset and contacts to get bargain basement players who turn out to be developed into Rangers-class (in this era anyway) players?    Time will tell.   

We'll also see how good his selling skills are to sell Rangers and the SPFL to attract the equivalents (or better than) Tav, Defoe, Morelos, Barasic, Katic, Edmundson. etc.    The quality of signings arriving on his watch, and the effectiveness of those signings in propelling Rangers to win titles and cups will be the main defining marker of whether Wilson is the real deal to deliver for Rangers  or just a learner who is CV building and who will move on having not brought in enough good quality players for the limited dough this current Board can make available. .       

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1 minute ago, Boybluesy said:

John 'Yogi' Hughes says our new DoF has never played football and wouldn't recognise or 'spot' a player so hopefully our scouts can. 

To be fair Mark Allen 'spotted' 38 of them, not all good.

Well if John Hughes is saying it I think we should sack wislon just now 

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5 minutes ago, Boybluesy said:

John 'Yogi' Hughes says our new DoF has never played football and wouldn't recognise or 'spot' a player so hopefully our scouts can. 

Classic attitude of somebody who’s spent basically all of his professional career in Scottish football.

It’s attitudes like this that play a massive part in why Scotland is such a footballing backwater.

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12 minutes ago, Boybluesy said:

John 'Yogi' Hughes says our new DoF has never played football and wouldn't recognise or 'spot' a player so hopefully our scouts can. 

To be fair Mark Allen 'spotted' 38 of them, not all good.

 

6 minutes ago, DBBTB said:

Classic attitude of somebody who’s spent basically all of his professional career in Scottish football.

It’s attitudes like this that play a massive part in why Scotland is such a footballing backwater.

Read the whole article :lol:

https://www.insidefutbol.com/2019/10/15/ross-wilson-will-take-unbelievable-amount-off-steven-gerrards-desk-john-hughes/440360/

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