RANGERS have appointed Stewart Robertson as their new managing director with the Ibrox board seeking to strengthen their executive team.
The qualified chartered accountant has been out of football since leaving Motherwell earlier this year and will now assume a key off-field role at Ibrox.
The arrival of Robertson is the first move by the Rangers board to add to their resources behind the scenes and he will be responsible for running the club on a day-to-day basis. Rangers have been operating without a chief executive or finance director since Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan swept to power at the EGM in March as Derek Llambias and Barry Leach, close allies of Mike Ashley, were removed from office. Rangers announced last month that both Llambias and Leach had been sacked and were no longer employed by the club as the off-field reshuffle continued with the appointment of King as chairman.
The board have now moved to bring in Robertson ahead of a hectic summer on and off the park as Rangers prepare for the new domestic campaign. The appointment of Robertson follows the unveiling of Mark Warburton and David Weir as Rangers' new management team on Monday.
With just six weeks to go until Rangers begin their season with a first round tie in the Petrofac Training Cup on July 25, Warburton must act quickly to strengthen his depleted squad to ensure they are up to speed for the new campaign. Rangers have just 14 first team players on the books at Ibrox and have yet to announce any pre-season fixtures and Robertson will now take a key hands-on role as the board continue their steps to rebuild the club following years of turmoil.
Robertson, who has worked with Ernst and Young and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, left Fir Park in January following the acquisition of the club by businessman Les Hutchison. During his time in Lanarkshire, he served as a director and secretary and was also a member of the Scottish Premier League board.
His presence at Ibrox will be crucial in the coming weeks as King returns to South Africa to concentrate on his business interests following another busy few days at Ibrox that saw the appointment of Warburton and Weir preceded by a General Meeting last week.
Rangers released the results of the shareholder poll yesterday as Ashley saw his resolution relating to the repayment of a £5million loan to his Sports Direct firm rejected by 53.6 per cent of those who voted on Friday. A motion proposed by the board to renegotiate the retail contracts in place between Rangers and Sports Direct was passed with a 62.5 per cent majority of the 78 per cent of shareholders who cast their vote.
Meanwhile, former potential Ibrox investor Robert Sarver has reportedly made a bid for La Liga side Levante as he seeks to expand his sporting portfolio. The American businessman, who owns NBA side Phoenix Suns, was twice knocked back by the former Rangers regime as he attempted to invest in Rangers earlier this year. Sarver tabled two bids, the second worth £20million, but was rebuffed by the board at that time and refused to rule out making another move at Ibrox.
He has now been linked with a £40million bid for the side that finished 14th in Spain's top flight last season. Sarver has reportedly held talks with chairman Javier Tebas and a decision over his proposal could be reached next week.
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