There are grillings and then there's what Ross Wilson suffered through at today's AGM.

The sporting director's feet were licked by flames from the moment fans took to the microphone as his record in charge of the club's football department faced aggressive scrutiny.

His face contorted into a grimace, the normally buoyant former Southampton executive cut a serious figure as he faced down questions over his transfer spending, injuries and squad management.

He's achieved a lot behind the scenes in bringing the standards of the club up to scratch and achieving his one-club philosophy, but as incredibly important as all that is, the realpolitik of life in Glasgow means it counts for little when you are no longer top of the Premiership table.

His popularity has been on the wane for months since he was widely praised for the winter window that saw Aaron Ramsey and Amad Diallo arrive to, on the face of it, add experience and firepower to Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team. It didn't work and overall, seven summer signings have also failed to make the required impact, largely due to injuries. There is clearly talent there, but Rangers haven't seen enough of it - even Wilson would concede that.

One of the curious narratives developed in recent months has seen the 38-year-old being said to have a firmer grip on the transfer reins than Michael Beale's predecessor van Bronckhorst. This flies in the face of common sense and what multiple sources have confirmed on and off the record about the transfer system in place at Ibrox.

A sporting director will always have a say and is the line manager of those in the scouting department. However, it would be folly for Rangers to allow anyone but the manager have the last word on which players arrive.

Stewart Robertson was in agreement when he told me in October: “We wouldn't sign someone if Gio said he didn't want them because you put yourself in a very difficult position if you do that.

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“You'd have a player the manager doesn't want. You don't need to create situations that can cause disharmony. You need to make it as smooth as possible and take away as many excuses for things not working as possible.”

Steven Gerrard worked comfortably with Wilson but had players he directly wanted, outside of the scouting team, in the likes of Connor Goldson, Ryan Kent, John Lundstram, Jack Simpson and Juninho Bacuna.

Without going over well-trodden ground, Van Bronckhorst was more comfortable working within the system, unsurprising when you consider the cultural differences between the two coaches; one having grown up in the British system where a manager is the head of the football department and the other in Holland where a director of football was top of the tree.

Beale will likely represent a return to the Gerrard model with a more active role in the scouting of players and perhaps even asking to bring in those who fit his plans for remodelling the team.

The Englishman has an encyclopaedic knowledge of players from his time working at youth level and will likely have a few ideas of men who can add some quality to the squad.

Wilson certainly needs all the help he can get. Like Van Bronckhorst before him, the sporting director's position is difficult without the backing of supporters.

If Beale were to fail, you sense there will be no third chance for the sporting director to appoint a Rangers manager.

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