Journalist issues suspicion on why top Rangers CEO candidate rejected job

Jim Gillespie is suspected to have rejected the Rangers chief executive role because he didn’t want to become the latest “scapegoat” to be chewed up by the club and its fans, says Michael Grant.

The Times journalist wrote for the paper’s website on 22 September that it is “reasonable to suspect” the Gers-supporting St Mirren vice-chairman turned down the move because he could see what would have been in store for him.

The Daily Mail reported on 10 September that Gillespie had held advanced talks with John Bennett about moving to Ibrox before suddenly pulling out despite being the frontrunner, and the latter was confirmed as resigning his position as Rangers chair soon after on 14 September.

Grant wrote: “Bennett is highly intelligent, successful, and capable. But the chairmanship got away from him through poor decisions and the stress became intolerable. Last weekend he stepped down for health reasons.

“St Mirren vice-chairman Jim Gillespie was on course to become the next chief executive at Rangers, the club he supports, and then all of a sudden he wasn’t.

“Gillespie has yet to discuss the issue but it is reasonable to suspect he read the room and didn’t fancy becoming the next scapegoat chewed up by a club and a fanbase struggling to come to terms with the apparent hopelessness of their unequal rivalry with Celtic.”

Rangers have been without a CEO since James Bisgrove left

It is potentially problematic to directly attribute Bennett’s health issues with his Rangers roll but on a basic level the pressure of his recent months at Ibrox surely wouldn’t have helped anyone.

Since James Bisgrove “stunned” the club by bolting to the Saudi Pro League at the end of last season [Scottish Sun, 30 May] Bennett was also acting as the interim chief exec on top of his chairman role.

He had to navigate the nightmare Ibrox mess as the Copeland Road Stand building works were delayed and forced the Gers to move to Hampden Park until yesterday (21 September), all while attempting to find a successor to Bisgrove.

It is possible that Gillespie had an insight into Bennett’s potential exit sooner rather than later and didn’t want to take on the job if the man that hired him was gone.

But either way it is something of a poisoned chalice at the moment for whoever is appointed since the senior leadership is so sparse.

John Gilligan has returned temporarily as acting chair but the task for the next chief executive will be a major one, just as it will on the next permanent chairman, with pressure huge on any figure in a key leadership position given the overall situation at Ibrox.

But Philippe Clement and his players can do their bosses a favour by stringing together a few more results to relieve some of the stress, with two wins and two clean sheets against Dundee United and Dundee most welcome.

In other Rangers news, Tom English has issued a Neil Lennon to Ibrox verdict amid “alienating” developments.

For more Rangers news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.

The post Journalist issues suspicion on why top Rangers CEO candidate rejected job appeared first on Ibrox News.