NOT for the first time over the last few years, Rangers find themselves at something of a cross roads.

The reason they are back at this stage is probably down to the fact their sense of direction has been as reliable at those crucial moments as the coal-powered Sat Nav on the Titanic.

Rangers seem to lurch from one crisis point to the next, with only the merest hints of light relief in between. Financial crises, owners with agendas, managers on gardening leave, more owners with agendas, retail battles, more owners and now a struggling football team.

The latter point may seem the most trivial given the previous gripes. Indeed, Rangers fans a few years ago would have longed for the day where their main concern revolved around 11 players on a grassy park.

Yet, right at this moment in time, getting that right could hold the key for everything else falling into place, and it is imperative those in charge get this next decision right.

After all, it will be the most crucial move for a generation if Rangers are to progress forward on any level.

Since Mark Warburton's - errr... let's just say departure - last Friday there has a clamour for various sorts of solutions to crack a conundrum that the Englishman couldn't solve. Get Rangers winning and winning well.

Short-term caretakers, directors of football, all sorts of managerial concussions in a bid try and come up with a winning formula.

For me, the equation is simple. Right manager + money = success.

The notion of a director of football is an interesting one that has already been flirted with. And, in another time or place, it may be just the answer for long-term prosperity.

Time and patience is something which Rangers, and indeed their supporters, don't have.

Warburton stressed for patience on pretty much a weekly basis, and it was a point stressed by the Rangers board on several occasions as well during the former Brentford boss's tenure.

Yeah, that worked out well.

At any other club, in any other city, in any other time, perhaps it could work. Maybe even over the years it is something which may be successful at Rangers.

Not now.

Rangers are not in the mess they are currently in because they didn't have a director of football in place. For a club that uses Simply the Best as their anthem, it's because the man in the dug out simply wasn't the best man for the job.

To lead a team the size of Rangers, you need a strong manager and with a powerful character. Look at Brendan Rodgers with Celtic, it would be doubtful if such a system would work at Celtic Park given the influence he has.

For the Ibrox club and their supporters, this decision is pivotal as Rodgers has already steered the Parkhead outfit into a massive lead. Not just over Rangers, but everyone else.

Unlike their Premiership rivals, Rangers don't have the ability to say 'ah well, let's patiently build towards closing the gap'. Warburton will testify to that. Then again, maybe not.

It seems mental that various different structures are being considered before the small matter of thinking about who the new manager is going to be is brought up.

Right now, that should be the main priority. Only when the correct man is targeted, approached and agrees to come in at the earliest opportunity, can you then speak to him about how someone else could play into that role and how the club are going to look beyond a head of recruitment who only fishes in the most overpriced bond of English football for bargains.

I'm looking at you Frank...

It would be unfair to say even the ideal candidate must win the league next year. It won't happen. However, backing from the board must be promised to whoever the new man is if the gap to Celtic isn't going to grow into an even wider chasm.

Rangers cannot afford to get this one wrong. They also cannot afford to hang around.