Getting on with the manager is vital but Steven and I are on the same page
AFTER joining Rangers from Southampton, Ross Wilson arrived with a reputation for strategic, data-based thinking. Yet the one tool the Scot hasn’t been able to pack in a case and bring north is the idea which made it all possible. The black box.
A room housed within Staplewood, Southampton’s £40million training centre in the Hampshire haven of Marchwood, the black box was reserved for the club’s inner circle. Containing a database of data and video highlights from all over Europe, the details of up to 20 players for each position were available at any given time, leading eventually to a shortlist of four or five.
If the idea was simple, the science was anything but. Designed to identify suitable players to sign, the black box was supposed to remove luck and guesswork from the equation and provide the head coach with tailor-made options.
‘We had some mixed success,’ acknowledged Wilson. ‘We had some players who came in and did exceptionally well for us and some others who either needed more time or who haven’t quite worked out.’
The same could be said of recent Rangers signings. While Alfredo Morelos and Glen Kamara have proven astute captures, Wilson is working with Steven Gerrard on a plan to ship out some of the less successful acquisitions in January. Over time, the idea is to create a transfer strategy which delivers consistently more hits than flops.
Asked if he can recreate the black box at Rangers, the former Falkirk, Watford, Huddersfield and Saints recruitment guru is guarded.
‘I don’t think it’s as simple as that,’ said Wilson. ‘The black box isn’t a thing — it’s a concept. You can’t lift it and bring it.’
For Rangers, it’s enough for now to have the architect in the building. The Ibrox club have recently spent money modernising the reception area of the Hummel Training Centre. Despite the club’s annual report showing a loss of £11.3m, directors and shareholders have shown a willingness to continue spending in a quest to create a club professional enough to become self-sustaining through success.
After failing to land Wilson from Saints in 2017, the hope is that he might prove the most astute investment of all.
‘It was a difficult decision to not come a couple of years ago,’ admitted the 36-year-old. ‘There was a blank sheet of paper at the time to try and help rebuild the football club. It was difficult not to come but harder to leave Southampton.
‘I did seek some counsel from some of my colleagues down south on the opportunity when it presented itself again and it’s something that excites me at a club with huge potential.
‘We’ve got to be relentless in our pursuit of trying to make as much excellence as we can in all areas of the football pitch.’
Before committing, it was important that Gerrard (below) bought in to what he had to say.
Proud of his relationships with past managers, the lines of demarcation were thrashed out during face to face meetings.
‘It’s one of the most important relationships and something that’s really important to me,’ added Wilson. ‘I have to say we are on the same page. The relationship has been excellent so far.’
A graduate of Stirling University, Wilson sees a role which extends to more than signing players. The academy, scouting, sports science, medical department and women’s football teams will all come under his remit.
Yet for any sporting director, the barometer never changes. If he recommends good players, fans will think he’s a genius. If he recommends strikers who can’t score goals, he has to go.
‘I think the bottom line is you have to turn off the noise with that,’ he insisted.
‘It’s probably something that would have annoyed me seven or eight years ago. Now it goes with the territory. ‘The players we sign will be a collective decision between the work of the scouts, me working with them and the network, and the manager Steven having the final sign-off on those players. So whoever gets the final credit and criticism for them, I have no problem with that.’ To minimise the risk of bad signings, Wilson will work with Gerrard on developing a strategy. While Celtic had a clear plan to buy low and sell big — flogging the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Victor Wanyama and Fraser Forster for large profits to Southampton — the Rangers scouting function fell into disrepair. Wilson’s remit is to take the foundations laid by predecessor Mark Allen and build something bigger and better. A plan with staying power capable of withstanding the loss of a manager every three or four years.
‘We absolutely have to develop what that strategy looks like in terms of scouting and recruitment,’ admitted Wilson.
‘I have only been here two or three weeks, but we have already begun those discussions and those will continue going forward.
‘It is something I’ve had at my other clubs and something I hope to continue to work like that here.
‘I think Steven is really happy with the direction so far, but I think we both see there is so much scope to go forward and continue developing the training centre, for example.
‘Some of the work has started already and we want to keep pushing that forward.
‘We want to develop the scouting, the academy, medical, sports science, everything.’
In England and continental Europe, sporting and technical directors are an accepted part of the footballing culture.
In Scotland, they can be treated with suspicion and mistrust. At Celtic, the Kenny Dalglish experiment ended swiftly 20 years ago, Allen left Ibrox for ‘family reasons’, while Craig Levein’s time at Hearts ended a fortnight ago.
Recognising that a director of football can provide continuity when managers come and go, Rangers and Hearts are persevering with the model.
‘I’ve only just come back over the border, so I don’t know what the view of it is here,’ said Wilson. ‘But I hope it becomes embedded in Scottish football, as well.
‘I always find these questions
difficult because I’ve never had any issue with it during my time in England, from when I started at Watford and had a really strong relationship with Sean Dyche right through the relationships I had with the managers at Huddersfield and Southampton.
‘For Scottish football, it could be part of the journey up here. Hearts have had the model in place for some time and are looking to take a little turn with it now.
‘Hibernian and Dundee United are also working like that, Celtic are working in a similar way. So I’m sure that it will become embedded in Scottish football the same way it is everywhere else.’
In the SPFL, a common rule of thumb has never changed and it is one that Wilson subscribes to. How much a club spends is less important than using the cash they have well.
‘It’s a big frustration among sporting directors when people talk about net spends and things like that,’ he said.
‘It’s not just about how much you spend. It’s about a clear strategy.’
A black box helps, of course. At Rangers, that might take a little more time.