As James Bisgrove heads to Saudi Arabia, Rangers face yet more upheaval.
The club’s former commercial and marketing director made the step up to CEO last summer to replace the heavily criticised Stewart Robertson.
John Bennett came in for chairman Douglas Park and Ross Wilson was (eventually) replaced by Nils Koppen in a complete restructuring of the club’s hierarchy.
It was a tectonic shift at Ibrox, as the days of Park’s apprehensive spending and that public spat with Dave King rolled to an unfortunate end in the wake of another Celtic treble.
Despite lifting 55 and reaching the Europa League Final, Rangers have badly regressed over the last three seasons and as we face yet more upheaval, that should come as no surprise.
Bisgrove rocks Rangers leadership structure
When Rangers last lifted the title, it came after three long years of struggle under Steven Gerrard.
It came after six long years of struggle under the club’s leadership structure.
Dave King and the Three Bears wrestled back control of the Ibrox boardroom in 2015 and went through several managers before settling on the Scouser.
Since Gerrard left in November 2021, Rangers are now on their third appointment in the position.
It is Groundhog Day at Ibrox as we meekly watch Celtic march to title after title, Gerrard so far the anomaly and certainly not the rule.
At the same time there has been upheaval in the recruitment department – not exactly a stellar indictment on the club’s situation in this regard either – as well as on the park.
In fact, you have to go back to the days of Gerrard to find any semblance of consistency.
The Scouser managed to regain the momentum in the Old Firm fixture and since his departure, our record makes for grim reading.
Clement has lambasted the club’s medical situation and ridiculed Ross Wilson’s heavily defended player contract model.
Five players and almost 750 appearances have just walked out the door for nothing.
In essence, it’s a criticism of a lack of long-term planning.
Years of short-term fixes and a lack of Plan B action have really cost Rangers who for the umpteenth time have just had the rug pulled from underneath them.
The situation with James Bisgrove is obviously less than ideal but it’s symbolic of a club that is struggling to find the necessary consistency which will implement protective systems both on the park and off it.
We have been too reliant on certain players, not aggressive enough in player trading, and too disruptive at the top of the club and in the dugout.
We’ve heard a lot of talk about the direction the club is going. We’ve yet to see a lot of action.
Leadership is sorely lacking in every department and nothing will change until we have it.
Rangers must build towards long-term success
Rangers fans must recognise that after three years of constant upheaval in every department, change will not be swift.
Philippe Clement needs to be backed in the transfer market and from the stands, with the Belgian up against it in the hunt to retain Rangers’ domestic legacy over Old Firm rivals Celtic.
In order for Rangers to effectively mount resistance to their dominance we need a level of stability and consistency at every level of the club.
That doesn’t mean bodies need to stay in their roles, or players need to stay in the dressing room.
Even in terms of Bisgrove, the ex-UEFA man’s stellar commercial success at Ibrox paved the way for Karim Virani to walk into a near-identical role.
It’s a question of vision and structure.
We cannot be sacking managers on a yearly basis and it will take time to properly implement the changes we need at every level.
The next appointment of CEO has to be in keeping with our long-term strategy but at the same time there has to be fail-safes should he, or her, move on.
Rangers need to be a well-oiled machine, constantly upgrading and developing itself, swapping parts in and out, active and not reactive to the conditions of the modern football space.
I believe that the current custodians do share that vision for the future of the club but as the gears finally start to grind a cog suddenly drops out.
Rangers must now agree on the direction the club is going, show their working to the fans and urge patience as we rebuild after years of uncertainty and a lack of leadership at every level.
It is the only way we will find the necessary consistency which has been sorely missing ever since we got our hands on the Premiership trophy.
They say that getting to the top is the easy part; it’s staying there that is difficult.
We’re a living, breathing case with Rangers woefully underprepared to retain their status as kings of the Scottish game.
The next time we get to the top of Scottish football – whenever that may be given the current circumstances – we need to ensure we have the foundations in place to stay there.
In the year’s since 55, it’s become abundantly clear that these were never really in place.
