Rangers are set to finally replace Patrick Stewart as CEO with the announcement of soon to be former St Mirren vice chairman Jim Gillespie.
New CEO
We are not going to pretend that we are hugely familiar with Gillespie other than the fact that we tried to get him before and it did not work out. The hopes that we have regarding a new CEO are obviously not going to be massive in terms of expectation. How does one measure the CEO. The basic reality is a CEO is only doing well if he is not being criticised.
A history of criticism
Every time Rangers have had a CEO in the reasonable recent and distant past generally the evaluation from fans has been to criticise them. While not called CEO Stewart Robertson was Managing Director. That is the same role and he was heavily lambasted for his performance. Charles Green started out very popular initially. Then he like everybody else became the bad guy as well.
Recent failures
In more recent times obviously it was James Bisgrove who was a great commercial officer. Then he became a terrible CEO. The worst call is that he should not have been promoted. Since then obviously the final man was indeed Patrick Stewart. He was a chronically bad appointment.
Patrick Stewart era
Presiding over a dire Man United era Rangers’ former regime thought he was the best man to take us forward. He really was not. A truly poor decision. But now we have Gillespie.
A Rangers man
The one big thing that we will say in his favour is he is a Rangers man. That is the first. That is a first for Rangers to have a proper Rangers man in that kind of position on our board. It feels like we have not had that in a very long time.
Boardroom context
We do not really count Dave King or Douglas Park for that indeed. Quite frankly King was in it for himself. In the end Douglas Park was too. But both were of coourse chairmen and not CEO. Consequently looking at those kind of roles the executive positions around the board Rangers have lacked really proper Rangers men.
What Rangers need
They need both business acumen to the enth degree and also big supporters of the club. That does not necessarily mean that they will be a success. It does mean though that they do know what it is all about. They understand what Rangers requires.
A historic first
Having that as a CEO is in actuality a first. It is the first time that Rangers will have had a CEO who is a Rangers supporter in our history. We have never had that position filled by one of us. Someone who is good at what they do being a Bear in that slot.
Baggage
Obviously he does come with a little bit of acrimony and baggage. That court case last year was not the best look for him. The hint of defamation in his past is not the best thing for anyone to have to deal with. Whatever the truth behind it nevertheless it is still a bit of a black spot on his name.
Final view
We will not hold it against him. He does seem like he could be a good addition to the ranks. It is about time.