McCoist has his chief concerns
ALLY McCOIST has sought clarity over the role of a chief football operations officer at Ibrox — amid concerns his plea for a new chief scout is falling on deaf ears.
Sportsmail revealed last month that Rangers chief executive Graham Wallace had met former Ibrox midfielder Christian Nerlinger about the possibility of returning to the club in the position created in his 120-day review.
McCoist has stated he would have no issue with the move — provided he was guaranteed f i nal say over player recruitment. But he remains in the dark as to whether someone like Nerlinger would effectively be the club’s eyes and ears on potential transfers at home and abroad.
Were that not to be the case, McCoist believes the lack of a chief scout will seriously hinder the club’s prospects of building for the future.
‘I spoke with Graham half an hour ago and nothing has been said about Nerlinger or any director of football, so I don’t know anything about it,’ he said. ‘I would expect to know something but it has gone quiet.
‘My priority is to win the league (Championship) but, in terms of the infrastructure, we desperately need a chief scout. Finance plays a big part in why we can’t plan longer term.
‘You lose 20 players valued at £40million and replace them with free transfers. It is not a criticism of the boys you are bringing in. It is a fact of life.
‘We have to replace quality and get quality back in to return to the level we want to be at. You won’t do that in a year. We had a team to win the Third Division and a team last year (winning
“We must have a proper scouting department”
League One) and we have a team for this season. We just have to keep strengthening.
‘The one thing you do have with a chief scout and a scouting department is the potential to do a Sporting Lisbon (with Ryan Gauld).
‘Go and get a boy at 18, 19 and say: “Right, it looks like we won’t play you for 18 months, but we are going to develop you”. That is the ideal world.
‘We are light years away from that. We must get back to having a base where we have people at games, going to Europe to watch Under-18 and Under-21 tournaments.
‘Whether that is the chief football officer’s gig or the chief scout’s gig is up for debate. But if we want to get back to a top standard in Scotland and, hopefully, back into European football, we must have people assessing players.’
Summer signings Darren McGregor, Kenny Miller and Kris Boyd have provided ammunition for critics who believe McCoist’s line of vision is too narrow.
While content with those acquisitions, he feels the lack of a proper scouting network means recruiting potential hidden gems from untapped markets is currently impossible.
‘We can’t go and watch players unless they are in Scotland because of the situation the club is in.
‘That is the beauty of having a scouting department. At the moment, we are just watching games off videos, which is not ideal.’