STEVEN GERRARD hopes Ross Wilson can pick up where Mark Allen left off at Rangers after he was appointed as Sporting Director this week.
The 36-year-old has left his position at Southampton to make the move to Ibrox and return to Scottish football after starting his career at Falkirk.
Wilson has also spent time at Watford and Huddersfield Town and worked alongside the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Ronald Koeman and current boss Ralph Hasenhüttl at St Mary’s.
The appointment of the Scot comes weeks after Allen left his role as Director of Football and Gerrard is pleased the position has been filled at Ibrox.
READ MORE: Nikola Katic encouraged by positive working relationship with Rangers boss Steven Gerrard
Gerrard said: “I’m looking forward to finding out about him. He’s not someone I know really well, I’ve not met him before. Obviously I’ve had some really detailed conversations of late.
“But before his name was mentioned I wasn’t aware of Ross Wilson so I’m looking forward to building a relationship. The initial chats I’ve had have been very exciting in terms of what he’s going to try and do and how he’s going to help.
“I’m really looking forward to it because I feel as if there’s been a void, because I’ve been used to Mark being there and the relationship being so close.
“When Mark left I think I felt it a bit, I think everyone around the place as felt it. So it’ll be nice to fill the void with someone who’s quality at the job. He comes with a big reputation and I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s going to add.
“I think it’s key, very important. I saw that first-hand with the job Mark did when I came in. The changes we’ve made on and off the pitch, the decisions we’ve had to make, how he’s handled the board and the commercial guys, the media.
“Mark is someone you can bounce anything off and I’m sure Ross is going to be the same. These guys are helping me make vital decisions for the club, in the recruitment area and changes around the club. So I’m certainly someone who favours working alongside one.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here