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Graeme Souness says Rangers need ‘football people’ making recruitment decisions Former Rangers manager Graeme Souness claims the Ibrox club need “football people” making key decisions to ensure player recruitment improves. Rangers have been tipped to make 26-year-old Japanese winger Daisuke Yokota, of Hannover 96, their ninth summer signing, after Derek McInnes called for more quality arrivals in the wake of their opening William Hill Premiership draw with Dundee United. Souness, who was promoting Premier Sports’ coverage of the new season, said: “The recruitment’s not been good enough. How do you solve that? You get football people in making football decisions. It’s not rocket science. If you’re a football person, it doesn’t mean that it’s black and white, because you’ve been a football person it will work. No-one gets every signing right. No-one. There’s never been a manager. There never will be. “So you’ve got a better chance if you’ve got someone with a footballing background making football decisions. If you haven’t got that, if you’re giving someone that power who’s never played the game…I’ll say that again, if you’re giving that power to someone who’s never played the game…I’ll say it a third time for a reason. If you give that power to someone who’s never played the game, you’re asking for trouble. And I know everything is based on stats and numbers. That only takes you so far. Let football people make football decisions.” Kevin Thelwell had a short-lived spell as Rangers sporting director last year before leaving in the wake of Russell Martin’s dismissal, but technical director Dan Purdy has a major say in recruitment. Although Rangers made a point of calling McInnes the “manager” when he replaced head coach Danny Rohl, they stated the structure remained unchanged and recruitment decisions would be collaborative. Signings were simpler when Souness revived Rangers in 1986 on the back of big-money signings such as Terry Butcher and Chris Woods. “When I came to Rangers, I was 33 years old and I knew I had to sign players,” he said. “And I went as safely as I could to begin with. I was getting players that I’d played against, players I knew. “So someone coming in who’s never kicked a ball, making those shouts, is extremely brave. If it’s all to do with stats and figures, it’s to do with analysts who look at computer screens with lots of numbers, no. You’ve got no chance. That doesn’t work. Don’t care what anyone says, it doesn’t work. You need football people.” Souness advised Rangers prior to last summer’s takeover, calling for the then board to appoint Frank Lampard as manager, before giving Philippe Clement his seal of approval when that tip was not taken up. The former Liverpool and Scotland captain said: “The story of football today at big football clubs south of the border is non-football people thinking ‘I’ve made money in different areas of business, this is just another business’. It isn’t. It’s a unique business. “And anyone who’s managed at the highest level, been successful or super successful would tell you the exact same. You have to have football people making football decisions.” Souness was promoting Premier Sports’ coverage of Scottish football, including more than 80 games in the Premiership, Premier Sports Cup and Scottish Cup. Fans can get a season’s coverage for £99 using promo code FITBA26.