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New Rangers CEO frontrunner emerges as St Mirren's Jim Gillespie pulls out of talks

Former FA chief Adrian Bevington could hold talks with Rangers
-Credit: (Image: AFP/Getty Images)


St Mirren vice-chairman Jim Gillespie will NOT be appointed as Rangers' new chief executive after dramatically pulling out of the race.

It emerged last month that Gers chairman John Bennett had targeted the Buddies supremo to replace James Bisgrove, who stunned the Ibrox board by moving to Saudi Arabia in June. It's believed lifelong Rangers fan Gillespie - an award-winning CEO with Renfrewshire children's charity Kibble - was in advanced talks over a move to Govan.

But the 46-year-old has sensationally decided to end his interest in the role at the eleventh hour, according to multiple reports. The dramatic change of heart has forced Bennett to go back to the drawing board as he desperately attempts to find a successor for Bisgrove.

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And the Scottish Sun claims that former FA chief Adrian Bevington has emerged as a new frontrunner for the vacancy. Vastly experienced Bevington spent almost two decades working across multiple roles with the England national team, including Director of Communications and Managing Director.

He also spent 18 months as Middlesbrough’s head of recruitment operations and recently had a brief spell on the board of Hartlepool United as a non-executive director. Bevington currently works as an MD for German football agency PROProfil and it's believed he'd be open to holding talks about a move to Scotland.

Last week, the former high-ranking English FA employee refused to rule out working in Scottish football in an interview with Go Radio, but stopped short of declaring his interest in the position at Rangers.

He said: "Well, I have got a very good job at the moment with a leading German football agency that I have been doing for two years. Look, Scottish football I have made no secret over the many years that I would at some point in my career always be interested in working in Scotland.

"I think it is an incredibly passionate football country and I've got a great deal of respect for the game there because of the fan base. You have got so much to build on there. Rangers as a football club, is such a huge football institution, it's a global club. Obviously, they are not happy with the situation they are in at the moment, the fans are definitely not happy.

"I have been following it very, very closely. Clearly, they were well beaten at the weekend by a very strong Celtic team. There is a lot of pressure flying around there. What I would say, is whoever the chief executive is going to be for Rangers has got to be someone who can show real leadership, is a good communicator, got to have a real understanding of the game and the industry, knowledge of the transfer market.

"Yes, they have got to be commercially strong to increase the revenues but ultimately I think they have got to have football industry nous and a real common sense and the ability to work relationships. If you have got all of that you've got a chance but it is still a very demanding, difficult job for whoever that person may be.

"I think with a club like Rangers with the stature that they have in the game - and even though they are going through a challenging period at this time - Rangers Football Club should be able to attract someone who has that stature and the ability to lead from the front but also have a real good understanding of how the industry works and a great network of contacts and relationships with people right throughout the game in Scotland but also at UEFA, the European Club Association.

"There are people within Celtic who have some of those relationships already and Rangers should be expecting similar."