uneasydaz
Well-Known Member
John Collins has questioned Ross Wilson’s Rangers recruitment credentials due to him never having played professionally.
The former Watford and Southampton executive arrived at Ibrox in October 2019 to provide the link between Steven Gerrard, his coaching team and the board.
Less than 18 months later, Wilson has contributed to the club winning their first Scottish Premiership title in a decade.
But former Celtic midfielder John Collins has questioned how much influence Wilson has over which players Gerrard signs and was sceptical about his ability to spot a player given his lack of playing career.
“The question is, what role is Ross Wilson doing?” He asked on Sportsound. “I don’t think he’s signing players. I think Steven Gerrard is finding and signing players.
“This team is Steven Gerrard’s. I don’t think it’s down to Ross Wilson.
“I could be wrong, but I think Ross is more of an organiser behind the scenes with databases and things like that, which bring in a cluster of players.
I’d like to know how he knows a top quality football player. He hasn’t played football at any level at all.
“If you're looking for a midfield player then I think it helps if you've played the game and been in the middle of the park. There are good recruitment scouts that haven’t kicked a ball but I think deep knowledge of football helps if you’ve been on the park and been on a training pitch for 15 years.
“There are two things in recruitment in modern football. They talk about data. Data is really important but if I'm a little winger playing in a poor team with a small striker and the opposite winger that doesn’t get in the box, my crossing stats aren’t going to be good.
“So the stats can be wrong. They can tell you the wrong things and that his crossing isn’t good, but I’ve just told you and explained that.
“You can talk about data, data, data, but it’s how you read the data and how the trained eye eventually watches them.
“But the key in modern football is finding the players who aren’t playing first team football and there’s no data. There’s no data on 17 and 18-year-olds and that’s what you have to get to at Celtic and Rangers.
“Because once they’re in the first team at 21 playing in France, they’re outwith your reach.
“So the real key is finding the diamonds before you;ve got any real data.”
The former Watford and Southampton executive arrived at Ibrox in October 2019 to provide the link between Steven Gerrard, his coaching team and the board.
Less than 18 months later, Wilson has contributed to the club winning their first Scottish Premiership title in a decade.
But former Celtic midfielder John Collins has questioned how much influence Wilson has over which players Gerrard signs and was sceptical about his ability to spot a player given his lack of playing career.
“The question is, what role is Ross Wilson doing?” He asked on Sportsound. “I don’t think he’s signing players. I think Steven Gerrard is finding and signing players.
“This team is Steven Gerrard’s. I don’t think it’s down to Ross Wilson.
“I could be wrong, but I think Ross is more of an organiser behind the scenes with databases and things like that, which bring in a cluster of players.
I’d like to know how he knows a top quality football player. He hasn’t played football at any level at all.
“If you're looking for a midfield player then I think it helps if you've played the game and been in the middle of the park. There are good recruitment scouts that haven’t kicked a ball but I think deep knowledge of football helps if you’ve been on the park and been on a training pitch for 15 years.
“There are two things in recruitment in modern football. They talk about data. Data is really important but if I'm a little winger playing in a poor team with a small striker and the opposite winger that doesn’t get in the box, my crossing stats aren’t going to be good.
“So the stats can be wrong. They can tell you the wrong things and that his crossing isn’t good, but I’ve just told you and explained that.
“You can talk about data, data, data, but it’s how you read the data and how the trained eye eventually watches them.
“But the key in modern football is finding the players who aren’t playing first team football and there’s no data. There’s no data on 17 and 18-year-olds and that’s what you have to get to at Celtic and Rangers.
“Because once they’re in the first team at 21 playing in France, they’re outwith your reach.
“So the real key is finding the diamonds before you;ve got any real data.”
