We can’t afford a rush job for DoF

RANGERS’ managing director Stewart Robertson says the club will take their time before appointing a director of football.

Ross Wilson had been the frontrunner for the new post before deciding to stay with Southampton, while Spurs’ former head of recruitment Paul Mitchell has also been spoken about as a possible candidate.

But Robertson insisted Rangers would not rush into selecting the man who will work alongside new manager Pedro Caixinha in matters such as recruitment and scouting.

Robertson said: “We’ve obviously focused on getting Pedro in place. We’ll let him come in, we’ll draw breath, and then we’ll start to focus on looking for a director of football again.

We’re set on the structure we are looking for. We know what we have to do which is enhance our scouting and recruitment at the club.

“So this is a process that will continue. We were starting to look at a restructuring of the football department even prior to the previous management team leaving.

“So events overtook that and we had to react to it. It became more important to get Pedro in, get him established. We will work away on the director of football in the background.

“I’d rather get the right person than set a two or three week deadline for it.

“It’s more important we get the right guy in there, because that is a key position for the club going forward.”

Robertson admitted that the new director of football might not be a former player, and that he and Caixinha would work in tandem rather than one controlling the other.

He added: “Can I just say, on the director of football, it’s not an older manager peering over the shoulder of a younger manager.

“It’s someone coming in who is going to help with the recruitment and the scouting and the other aspects of the football department, allowing Pedro to get on with the coaching.

“It’s not the classic sense of what a director of football is. Maybe the title is Sporting Director, if you’re looking at it. Does it have to be a former player? Absolutely not.”