Stevie Clifford moots ex-FA chief as new Rangers CEO after Gillespie decision

Stevie Clifford has suggested that Adrian Bevington is “a candidate” for the vacant CEO position at Rangers and urged them to make a “radical” decision.

Reports emerged on Tuesday [Daily Mail, 10 September] that current frontrunner Jim Gillespie had dropped out of the race to become James Bisgrove’s successor in Glasgow after he made the surprise move to Saudi Arabia.

While John Bennett is expected to continue the search for a new CEO, Four Lads Had A Dream host Clifford has suggested former FA Chief Bevington should be in contention.

Speaking on The Rangers Review YouTube channel (11 September, 7:23) he said: “We need to get this CEO position right.

“Go and appoint, and this may be a totally alien concept, go and appoint a CEO that has actually got history in the game like Adrian Bevington who has FA, Middlesbrough experience and I think he worked at a couple of other big clubs.

“I’m not saying he’s the answer but he’s a candidate. He’s got the right background and Rangers fans would go there’s somebody who at least has a background in the position let’s have a look into it.

“Not, no disrespect, a gut ten miles down the road, who’s friends with guys on the board, who’s worked at a charity, whose football club, no disrespect to St Mirren, have 4,000 season ticket holders.

“He’s coming to somewhere 10 to 15 times comparable to the size of what St Mirren is and it’s no disrespect to them but it’s a different platform, it’s a different way of operating and that’s the issue.

“Go out there and get the best possible candidate that you can get and then you have immediately a benchmark where you can put in a head of academy, you can put in other positions at the club that need filling and put the best structure around.

“Then, the off-field stuff will get better when they go into a stadium they’ll have a proper project manager etc etc because people at the top know what they’re doing.

“Sorry if that sounds a bit radical.”

Are Rangers close to a new CEO at Ibrox?

It does seem as though it would be common sense for the Gers to appoint a new CEO who has done teh job before at clubs similar in stature to Rangers.

Bevington, unlike Gillespie, has experience working at some massive footballing institutions, including the FA and would therefore completely understand what needs to be done to close the gap to Celtic off and on the pitch.

He may not as been as well known to the board as some of the alternative candidates, but he himself has all but confirmed that he would be interested in taking the job in the past when asked about it [The Go Radio Football Show, 5 September].

As Clifford suggests, this really shouldn’t be a difficult decision. The Light Blues should simply just appoint the best man for the job.

It doesn’t matter if that is Bevington or someone else, an appointment has to be made and it should be made quickly.

In other Rangers news, James Tavernier’s exit decision now lies with the player himself after new transfer updates at Ibrox

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