Dalglish backs director of football position as Rangers look to implement the system

Rangers have been experiencing frustration in their attempt to appoint their first-choice candidates - understood to be Southampton's head of recruitment and scouting, Ross Wilson, and Portuguese coach Pedro Caixinha - but have been clear about their preferred structure.

Dalglish has known both sides, having been employed as director of football at Blackburn and Celtic and worked with one during his second spell as Liverpool manager.

And he feels British football has been slow to embrace an efficient method of working.

"It's as long ago as the Lisbon Lions won the European Cup (1967) that they had directors of football on the continent," said Dalglish, who was in Stirling to launch the McDonald's Grassroots Awards.

"It's much-maligned here but I think it's much-maligned because people don't really understand what it is.

"As long as the lines of demarcation are perfectly clear: if you're the director of football and I'm the manager, you will do the negotiations for players or transfers, then I don't need to have anything to do with it.

"This is just one scenario, it's not necessarily the same for everybody, maybe the manager wants to negotiate for transfers. The manager will always pick the team, should always pick the team. He will train and coach them, he will also decide which players come in and which players go out.

"So as long as you know where you stand and lines are drawn before you start, I don't see a problem."

The 66-year-old added: I worked with one when I went back to Liverpool with Damien Comolli and it was fantastic, the work he did.

"He looked after all the finances with players, organised all the scouting, and if I said 'we need to have a look at him', he would send someone out. If he saw somebody I would go and have a look. And there was never anyone that came in the door that I didn't want to come in.

"For me, it can take a lot of work off the managers. Especially in the Premier League in England, they need as much time as they can get to prepare their teams."

Dalglish became one of British football's first directors of football after leading Blackburn to the title in 1995, and took on the role again at Celtic Park as John Barnes began a brief and difficult spell as manager.

"I never had a problem because I stuck to my job," he said. "I knew what my job was and John knew what his job was. I was frustrated that it never went better for everybody but it wasn't because there was a clash in roles."

Dalglish added: "It's not the only way it can work at a successful football club. The people who are working in the director of football role and the manager role, they have got to be comfortable. Nobody's got a blueprint that's 100 per cent guaranteed to get success.

"For me, without being disrespectful to directors of football, it's like what it used to be in the old days when you had the chief scout.

"What was John Park at Hibs and Celtic? He went and found the players. He was like a director of football. Maybe he didn't have the financials to negotiate, I don't know what his role was. But someone has got to do the legwork because the manager can't do it anymore.

"Whereas before you saw managers at games all over the place, you don't see them at as many games now, and that's simply because there is so much time taken up in the job they are there to do, and that's to get the first team playing.

"I don't know what they will put in place, but I'm sure the board of Rangers and the management and the staff and the supporters are all looking for them to be a lot more competitive in the next couple of years."

:: Kenny Dalglish volunteered for the day at grassroots football club Stirling City All Stars to help launch the 2017 McDonald's Grassroots Awards. Nominate any deserving grassroots heroes at www.mcdonalds.co.uk/awards

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