Craig Moore believes Rangers are missing a trick by not tapping into their global network of Ibrox legends.
The former Gers skipper now works as an agent, with much of his business conducted in the Far East. He made headlines this week when he revealed that the Light Blues had rejected his suggestion of signing Japanese ace Daizen Maeda before he became a Celtic star. It was a decision he branded “absolutely bonkers” as he took aim at his old club’s reluctance to explore the Asian market on the grounds that “they didn’t want to be seen” to be following the Hoops.
And now Moore has told Record Sport that Gers could be making much better use of former servants like himself with expertise in far flung territories around the world. He said: “I just look at the people that have come and gone from Rangers Football Club and I always think that it should have one of the best scouting infrastructures in the world because of the players from all over the globe that we’ve had.
“But it’s important to maintain relationships. Down the years we’ve had a huge Italian contingent, we’ve had South Americans, you’ve got Claudio Caniggia, Seb Rozental, you’ve had all the Dutch lads.
“In my role now, I cover Australia and Asia. There’s a network of players that have got a strong relationship with the club but I just think with all the chopping and changing that hasn’t been a focus for the club.
“There’s a lot of people at the club that will not even know that those players actually played for Rangers. That passing of the baton in terms of your network, I think it’s really important.
“I understand that everyone comes with their own network but there’s a lot of people that have come before them that know what it means to represent Rangers in a winning period. Listen, sometimes what I think is a wonderful idea isn’t shared by others. I just think that there are a lot of opportunities to explore in different areas.”
With another campaign heading for failure, new Ibrox CEO Patrick Stewart is conducting a root-and-branch review of the club’s football department. And Moore added: “I still think there’s a lot of work to be done in terms of a proper scouting infrastructure.
“I know there’s certainly things that were in place that have been changed. You need to have a strategy, you need to have a plan, you need to have a scouting infrastructure not only at home, which for me is huge because the Scottish quota is important to the football club.
“The Scottish DNA is important to the football club. But you need to really have a well-established network that covers many different areas because there’s a lot of great talent and great opportunities that is a little bit further afield than the UK which is normally a quite expensive market.”
Philippe Clement and Nils Koppen have started to broaden the club’s horizons after making summer swoops for Brazilian Jefte and Moroccan ace Hamza Igamane. But Moore is stunned Gers haven’t followed Celtic’s lead by tapping into the talent in Asia. He said: “In terms of really identifying it as a market that presents real value, I don’t think that Rangers have got to that stage yet.
“I still believe it’s a really, really big market that people in the UK don’t know enough about. You look at the Japanese players and the South Korean players, they’re just really well educated, they’re fantastic professionals.
“They come from what I think is probably one of the best cultures in the world in terms of respect. Technically, they’re very good and I’ve always thought that Scotland is a wonderful platform for them to showcase exactly what they’re all about.”
Gers have just come through a low-key January window which saw them sign only Rafa Fernandes on loan from Lille, with Lyall Cameron lined up on a pre-contract. However, Gers did manage to dump around £50,000 from their weekly wage bill after offloading Rabbi Matondo and Kieran Dowell on loan.
Neither player made a major impact in Glasgow despite being handsomely paid – and Moore admits those are the costly mistakes Gers must cut out in future. He said: “The club’s financial situation is well known so I certainly wasn’t expecting to see too much activity during the January window.
“I think there’s just a massive reset that’s been required. In terms of squad balance and more importantly, the salaries, that’s now being addressed.
“I’ve been a player and you are never going to knock back a good contract. It’s not players’ fault that they sign good contracts. It’s what’s been offered.
“But I think Rangers will definitely look to be smarter in that area moving forward. There’s no guarantee that a signing is going to hit the ground running and be unbelievable. But you’ve certainly got to limit as many risks as you possibly can.
“Everybody needs a little bit of luck. Unfortunately for Rangers, they probably were throwing too much money at players to entice them to come up. It needs to be people that are actually banging your door down because they want to be a part of the football club. Not because it’s a wonderful contract.”