It has been confirmed that Rangers will appoint a Director of Football before the end of the international break, with it all-but-confirmed internally.

There is of course a tonne of speculation about who it will be, with ex-Monaco man Paul Mitchell the favourite as things stand, but the names David Weir and Sam Jewell haven’t left the building just yet either, both of course in place currently at Brighton.

CEO James Bigrove announced at the recent fan forum that the process was in its ‘final stages’ and it’s emerged as no more than a fortnight before the appointment is confirmed.

Of course, the big deal at this stage is to get the right man in that manager Philippe Clement endorses, whoever he may be, because the January window is only 6 weeks away and the DoF will be the main man responsible for recruitment in that period.

And as Ibrox Noise explained yesterday, is the main man at Ibrox for transfers, period – so it has to be someone Clement trusts.

Under Ross Wilson, the-now Nottingham Forest chief was the main person responsible for signings, and he made mostly a bit of a mess of it, and was deeply unpopular for his arrogance in denying responsibility when things went south. We were not unhappy with his exit.

And this appointment has to be right – we’re sure it’s a Clement ally, it could well be Mitchell, but either way while previously Ibrox Noise was against a Director of Football at the club and never favoured Mark Allen or indeed Wilson, this time is a bit different.

Clement just wants to get on with coaching, and we need the correct DoF to deal with the messy stuff.

The announcement will certainly be before the end of the month.