Rangers DoF Mark Allen unveils new scouting department at Ibrox

When Mark Allen arrived at Ibrox earlier this year, he had a blank canvas upon which to lay out his masterplan. From Academy kids to first team stars, he was in charge.

The Gers Director of Football has now unveiled a major part of his structure after reconstructing a scouting setup that has required a drastic overhaul for some time.

Read more: Mark Allen: Next Light Blues boss must buy into the Ibrox philosophy as Rangers target title glory​

Nine-in-a-row hero John Brown will oversee the search for players across the UK, while Dave Swanick is in charge of the European network. At Auchenhowie, Dave Stevenson replaces Billy McLaren as he takes up a new role recruiting the best young talent available.

Rob Clarkson, who Allen worked with at Manchester City, and Player Liaison Officer Katy Lamont will also have key logistical roles to play as Andy Scoulding arrives as Head of Scouting to oversee the system.

Allen said: “If you look at Andy’s track record, he has been involved in forming high-level scouting networks and has over 15 years of footballing experience. He comes with a track record of working in high-performance arenas.

“He is multi-disciplined. He has worked in England at Fulham and Liverpool and he worked with the England National Team where he was responsible for putting together their scouting network which looked at potential England players. More recently, he has worked in Spain with Valencia.

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“Andy was the candidate who stood out as he had a clear understanding of what this club is and the opportunity to take it to the next level. I think that is a very attractive proposition in itself, coupled with the ability to start with a clean sheet of paper.

‘’The real positive is you get a chance to put your stamp on it and put your team in place.

“You don’t often get that opportunity of a blank canvas and I think that was very much a positive in terms of Andy looking at this role.”

The appointment of Allen in June was an important one for the Gers board as they finalised their new-look football structure following the arrival of Pedro Caixinha as manager.

But with the Portuguese now no longer at the Ibrox helm, it will be the next Light Blues boss that will hope to reap the rewards of the plans that have been implemented.

Allen has set his sights on Premiership glory ‘as soon as possible’ and has identified what attributes that title-winning side will need to compete at the top.

‘’Well,’’ Allen said, “You go back to basics. First and foremost, we had to sit down and design effectively what the team profile will look like.

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“To be successful in the Scottish Premiership and at Rangers in particular you need to be organised, you need to be ruthless and you need to be relentless.

“So we looked at those characteristics and started to look on and off the pitch to create this environment.

“Off the back of that, you start to look at the sort of player profiles that will fit into that, and the characteristics you were looking for in terms of a profile of a Rangers player.

“For me, you need commitment, you need leadership, you need respect and you need a football intelligence in terms of being able to understand different positions on the park and how to play your positions.

“You need a winning mentality and I do believe you need a degree of physicality.

“So when you look at all of those sorts of profiling statements, it gives you a good idea then to say if the team profile is going to be organised, ruthless, relentless, and if the player profile is going to be those six categories, then what are you looking for in each position then?

“We devised a set of characteristics we would be looking for in a defender, a midfielder and an attacker and then broke that right down to different types.

Read more: Mark Allen: Next Light Blues boss must buy into the Ibrox philosophy as Rangers target title glory​

“For instance, attacking right-backs, defending right-backs, wing-backs, holding midfielders box to box midfield players, attacking midfield players etc.’’

The new scouting structure that has been put in place will be crucial for Rangers in the coming years as the Ibrox squad continues to evolve.

But Allen is eager to see the Light Blues produce their own stars of the future and continue to invest in the Auchenhowie Academy as the likes of Ross McCrorie and Jamie Barjonas look to lead the way for the next generation.

“There are one or two others who are starting to show promise, and again, all off the back of a clearly defined philosophy,” he told RangersTV. “So that link with the first team is absolutely critical and has to happen.

“For me, we have to have Academy players making it into our first team arena. They have to be good enough – that is the job of the Academy – but we have to give them that opportunity.

“Part of that scouting and recruitment will be ensuring we don’t block the pathway of some of those players by just recruiting others.”