‘WITH ALL THE DIGNITY OF MEN IN ELF JUMPERS’
Managing director denies that decision to go with interim manager is a failure by Ibrox board to attract right candidate
Andrew Smith says Rangers’ quest to find a new manager has left director of football Mark Allen in an unenviable position
Rangers’ pursuit of a manager has appeared to have all the strategic planning of leaving it until Christmas Eve to do the festive shopping. All the Ibrox club seemed to want from their to-do list was appoint Derek Mcinnes. The failure to attract him from Aberdeen a fortnight ago meant that yesterday Graeme Murty was placed in charge until the end of the season. The same Murty that was placed in charge in the immediate aftermath of Pedro Caixinha being sent packing all of two months ago.
Murty’s permanent elevation raises, rather than answers, the most pertinent questions. The posers are firmly of the pointed variety. Frankly, how on earth could their search for a new manager have left the Rangers board and their director of football Mark Allen with all the dignity of grown adults attired in flashing elf jumpers.
The Ibrox club’s managing director Stewart Robertson attempted to shed some different light on an episode that has hardly reflected well on the custodians of the club. In fairness to him, he did so with a calm assurance that has hardly been associated with the attempts to avoid another managerial misstep of the monumentalproportionsthat was the 229-day tenure of the Portuguese coach Caixinha.
Moreover, his pushing of the narrative that Murty made himself into the manager by his efforts across two periods as interim this year – both in terms of how he has handled his team and the media profile – could hardly be said to be without merit. The erstwhile Rangers under-20 manager might have only 15 games in the front line under his belt, but with six wins in the nine he has guided the team for in recent months, he has taken as many points from that span of games as any manager in the Scottish Premiership.
It is unfair, Robertson said, to paint Murty as the cheap option who has been given the job because the club couldn’t get anyone else.
“Just because someone is here doesn’t mean they are the cheapest option,” he said. “It is more about the characteristics of the individual than the amount of money that you have to pay in a salary or compensation because that will be what it is for the right individual. The money is not a factor in the right appointment.
“There was a wide range of candidates we were looking at – and still were, post Derek [Mcinnes] – but we weren’t overlooking the job that Graeme had done and is doing in the last couple of months, and also in his previous stint. You’re looking at the body of work and the body of evidence over a period of time. That made us confident that, while Graeme is inexperienced in management, a lot of the characteristics we were looking for were sitting right in front of us.
“We’re not the first club to be in this situation and we won’t be the last. It’s more about the characteristics of the individual and Graeme has come across really well. This is the best audition he could have for the job.
“He’s the man in position and the man in possession – he’s in pole position and, if he does well, then he’ll give us an easy decision in the summer. He is taking it as he gets one kick of the ball and he wants to give it a right good welly.
“I can see why frustration’s there [from the fans] but someone once told me that recruitment is an art, not a science and it doesn’t always go in a straight line. People always say that it’s easy to do this or do that but we’ve ended up where we are, what’s gone is gone and we can’t change what’s happened.”
Robertson was required to support director of football Allen yesterday over the charge he has failed in his first major test since being appointed to the role earlier this season in a 57-day search for a manager ending without one being attracted to the club.
“I think that is harsh. Nobody knows the vast amount of work that went into looking, the search, and looking at different candidates. You have to look at the individuals’ characteristics and how they can deal with being at Rangers. It is not an easy job, it is not a job for everyone. I think that is harsh.
“There were lots of candidates we looked at. I don’t have the number handy but it was into the tens. You do your diligence and there are all sorts of components that come into it in terms of an individual’s make-up, their financial aspirations or their own career aspirations and where they want to be managing. Do they want to be in Scotland? That can quite often be one of the stumbling blocks for people. There are a whole host of different reasons why people didn’t want to come.”
Money will be available in this window and next as Rangersseektoimprovetheirsquad and Murty quickly made his first signing as Cardiff confirmed that left-back Declan John’s loan move to Ibrox had been turned into a permanent transfer. The 22-yearold defender has signed a deal until the summer of 2021 after making 14 appearances in the absenceofinjuredskipperlee Wallace.
Robertson, meanwhile, maintained that the ruling by the takeover panel yesterday that chairman and largest investor Dave King must make an £11 million offer to shareholders in the club will have no affect on guarantees given by him to plug future funding shortfalls. “One hundred per cent. Absolutely,” Robertson said, when asked if he was sure about these financial assurances. “It is an issue for Dave. As far as the club is concerned, it is not impacting on any decisions we are taking at all.”