Wilson is keen to get started at Ibrox

NEW Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson admits he can’t wait to get started with the Ibrox club. The 36-year-old Scot will leave his role as director of football operations at Southampton today, taking a seat on the Rangers board next month. Wilson first turned down a move to Ibrox two years ago, claiming the time wasn’t right. Now, after four-and-a-half years at Southampton, overseeing the club’s recruitment and scouting, the former Falkirk, Watford and Huddersfield star spotter (right) has been drafted in to work with Steven Gerrard following positive discussions with the Rangers boss. ‘I am sure it goes without saying I am delighted to be joining Rangers,’ said Wilson. ‘I have had really positive discussions with the club. ‘The vision and passion, shared collectively by the board and by Steven in terms of the plans to continue building the club, are exciting. ‘Equally, it was important that both the club and I shared the same understanding of what this role is and what the football model and culture inside the club needs to look like going forward.’ Wilson told the official Rangers website: ‘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 get started. ‘Steven (Gerrard) 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. ‘I have chosen to leave a fantastic job and people who I am 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.’ Currently conducting a review of Southampton’s football operations, vice-chairman Martin Semmens admitted they couldn’t stand in Wilson’s way and thanked him for his work during his time at the English Premier League club. Former Falkirk boss John Hughes gave Wilson his first start in football at the Bairns and believes Rangers have made a strong acquisition. Describing Wilson as a facilitator rather than a star talent spotter, however, Hughes said: ‘He’s come a long way, he was always ambitious and I think Rangers was his goal. ‘They’ve got a great guy, a good worker. He’ll organise everyone. ‘But in terms of identifying players, he needs to leave it to the scouts and let them do all the work because, having never played the game, I’m not 100 per cent convinced he has that perfect eye for a player. ‘But what he’s good at is getting guys around about him who do have an eye for a player. ‘Any time I speak to him, I always say: “Make sure you have people round about you who know a player”. ‘It’s nothing against Ross, but I think you have to have played the game to be able to identify a player and he never did.’