Charlie Nicholas has told Michael Beale that it will be impossible to be Rangers manager while also acting as director of football.
Beale has confirmed that he will assume some of Ross Wilson’s duties while the club looks for a successor after he was poached by Nottingham Forest last week to become their new chief football officer. With summer recruitment already in the works, Beale will pull double duty for the time being as the Ibrox hierarchy search for Wlson's successor.
But Nicholas insists it can’t work at a club the size of Rangers and will leave Beale with too much on his plate. Add that to the perceived lack of a strategic plan at Rangers, then it's a recipe for disaster as far as Nicholas in concerned and has urged them to appoint an old favourite to take some of the strain off the manager. before the fans turn on the manager.
He wrote in his Daily Express column: “There is no way Michael Beale can continue to fill both the job of manager and sporting director at Rangers. He has a really clever football brain and is very knowledgeable, but adopting Ross Wilson’s responsibilities on top of his own is impossible.
“With the Scot jumping ship to Nottingham Forest, Beale has told Ibrox chiefs he can perform a dual role until the end of the season – but he is taking too much on. It will eventually reach a point where he gets the blame for everything.
“Beale is getting caught up in too many issues and it doesn’t look like he has enough support. There doesn’t seem to be a clear strategic plan at Ibrox.
“Rangers need to go back to the drawing board because, as things stand, they have no hope of toppling Celtic unless Ange Postecoglou leaves. And if Beale isn’t able to flex his muscles in the transfer market this summer then they will continue to be a substandard team that’s way behind their Old Firm rivals.
“So, who should Gers turn to when looking for Wilson’s replacement? The likes of Christian Nerlinger has been linked with the vacancy but, for me, the standout candidate is David Weir.
“He has been at Rangers as both a player and assistant manager to Mark Warburton, so he knows what the club is all about. If Weir can be lured from Brighton – where he has been technical director for a year – it would be a no-brainer.
"The 52-year-old is experienced in this field and will be well aware of where Rangers need to get to. The Ibrox board need to make an appointment quickly.
“They then have to put a blueprint in place to take the club forward, otherwise it will just continue to drift. I’m sure Beale has an idea of where he wants to take things but he has to be assertive and tell his bosses what he needs. If not, the fans will come after him and the board again.
“The manager will work closely with the sporting director, so he should have a major say in who is appointed. The haste with which Wilson left for Nottingham Forest shows everything is not rosy behind the scenes at Ibrox.
“After throwing everything at stopping Celtic winning 10-in-a-row in 2021, the Gers board opted to tighten the purse strings and sanctioned big-money exits for Nathan Patterson, Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey last year.
“Rangers might have been better served accepting decent bids for Ryan Kent when he was producing the goods, Ianis Hagi when he wasn’t injured and Alfredo Morelos when he was nearly fit.
“The Rangers fans have been looking for someone to blame, and for months Dave King has been criticising his successor as chairman, Douglas Park. With Park resigning a fortnight ago, Wilson was left standing as the scapegoat but there isn’t a sporting director who’ll get every transfer right.”
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