With the statement that went out on Monday morning to confirm Rangers had parted company with Giovanni van Bronckhorst, there was a sentiment of ‘sincere thanks’ included in the communication.
181 words included a rightful acknowledgement of the achievements over the last year from the highly decorated player who can add a Scottish Cup success and an excellent run to the Europa League Final to his honours as a manager, alongside his league and cup wins with Feyenoord.
The tribute from a club representative came from Chairman Douglas Park but no quotes from Ross Wilson. That is usually not the case with any significant arrival or move at Ibrox.
It created a talking point online amongst Rangers supporters given the existing debate over Wilson’s own role and decisions as sporting director at the club, however his position is not thought to be under threat at all and in fact he appears likely to have a meaningful say in who comes in as the successor to GvB.
Joshua Barrie of the Rangers Review noted the absence of a contribution from Wilson in the statement but added some findings of his own to allay thoughts of anything untoward as a reason for the sole input from the boardroom:
“Although some attention was drawn to the fact that Ross Wilson was not quoted in Rangers’ statement, it’s understood chairman Douglas Park was considered the best person to comment rather than anything more revealing. The sporting director has faced criticism in recent months but is now tasked with leading the search for a new manager, a year on from his last appointment.”
Criticism of Wilson will remain in certain quarters and given the state of the squad with previous key assets set to leave for nothing (as things stand) as well as several other first teamers in the last months of their deal, there is a validity to those aspects of it. When further combined with a questionable success rate in terms of signings in which the sporting director will have input, there are still questions to be answered.