There is absolutely no question that James Bisgrove knows business. A different, and more pressing, question though, is whether he lead Rangers to do the business on the pitch.
The recently appointed chief executive is short of time, with little to no margin of error and facing a weight of expectation to oversee a major transformative effort at Ibrox this summer.
A new sporting director, the complete overhaul of the playing squad, a crucial appointment of a fresh academy director. Then there’s the small matters of the Scottish Premiership TV deal, sponsorship disputes and away allocations for matches between Rangers and Celtic.
It's an extensive list but Bisgrove shouldered the responsibility of a possible fresh start with communication and dialogue the watchwords on key topics for the Ibrox boardroom.
“It’s definitely an area we’re going to look at and we’ll have dialogue with all the right stakeholders and authorities – be that Police Scotland or Celtic,” said Bisgrove on the topic of Old Firm away allocations.
“We recognise all the different viewpoints on that. Yes, absolutely, we’re going to look at that and then we’ll see where those discussions go in terms of next season.
“There is no specific date in the diary for those talks but I’d imagine during the summer and before the next Old Firm game the dialogue will take place.
“For next season, season tickets have not been sold in the corner of the Govan Stand where the allocation was previously. So, for next season we do have the opportunity, if we decide, to reinstate the previous allocation of 700-800.
“That’s, if you like, our maximum for next season. Beyond that, it’s a broader conversation.
“I think the question was ‘is there the chance to go back to the traditional allocation of 8,000?’ I think that’s very unlikely at the moment.
“We need to see where the conversation goes but I don’t think that’s something that looks imminent.”
Pushed on whether common ground can be sought between Rangers and Celtic after perceived tit for tat exchanges on the ongoing ticket fiasco, Bisgrove admitted: “I don’t know is the honest answer. I will need to see when I step into the role and have those conversations how those conversations go.
“As I am standing here, I don’t know so let’s wait and see I think on that one.”
It was a progressive message emanating from the assured CEO, however, he insisted under his stewardship the club will continue to stand up for their beliefs even if they’re not universally backed.
Crucially, however, Bisgrove insisted every intention from Rangers will be presented in the right manner and seek to avoid any friction previously present in the frosty relations with the SPFL for example.
“I think what we will absolutely do, John [Bennett] and I, and we’ve already started is we will engage and communicate with stakeholders right across football, whether it’s UEFA, ECA whether it’s the other Premiership clubs,” he said of Rangers current relationships with footballing authorities.
“And John won’t mind me sharing that last week he had dinner with the chairman of the SPFL so that dialogue is there.
“But I think at the same time Rangers will always robustly defend our perspective and our position if we don’t believe something is right – whether that’s related to governance or a TV deal.
“I think if you compare the new Sky deal to the EFL deal then there are question marks that we have got around that. Then, you know, we will portray those views but we want to do so in a way that is building relationships as we go and we’ll see where those conversations are going.
“What we won’t do is bury our head in the sand and not have conversations. We will be prepared to engage and communicate.”
And a possible peace treaty with cinch and the suggestion of an agreement being reached ahead of next season? Bisgrove added: “We need to see where the conversation goes in terms of the dialogue but it’s a dialogue we are prepared to have.”
Given Bisgrove’s considerable experience in marketing – from his initial role at Rangers as head of marketing and previous positions at Emirates and UEFA – it’s little wonder he’s less than impressed by Scottish football’s TV deal.
And the matter is something Bisgrove is keen to raise with Scottish Premiership clubs as he cited the vast difference between the fortunes north and south of the border.
“I think the first thing to recognise on that is in Sky there is a brilliant partner for Scottish football. You look at them as a broadcaster and what they deliver is fantastic, there is a reason they broadcast the Premier League in its home country, arguably the greatest league in the world.
“We had questions that we raised in a very open forum with the other Premiership clubs over how the new deal was constructed. We didn’t feel there was a sufficient tender process and we felt that the tender process is the best way to extract value from the market because you create that competitive tension.
“If you look at the new EFL deal and the way that they went about it, they ran a tender process they had an ITT and an RFP and they managed to generate a rise of increase of 50 percent.
“From £110million to nearly £200m, the SPFL went from £25m to £28m, ten percent. That’s where we feel disappointed because we want, as a club and for Scottish football, we want maximum value in terms of broadcasters, sponsors and every aspect of the game.
“We will air those views and hope others will agree with us. We will try and go about it in the right way and try and explain our opinion and be constructive in the way that we do that.”
