Nottingham Forests new chief football officer Ross Wilson must steady ship quickly

Given that he once shared a flat with Nottingham Forest cult hero Brian Rice, Ross Wilson will arrive at the City Ground with at least some understanding of the history and traditions of the club.

Football is a small world and it was as a determined 21-year-old that Wilson earned his first chance in the game — and an opportunity to work alongside Rice — by simply refusing to get out of a car.

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At a time when they were signing a lot of English players, Scottish club Falkirk wanted a player liaison officer to help them settle. Wilson had been given an interview for the position but the first impressions, while positive, were that he was too young.

But having been given a lift home by the club’s head of football operations, he refused to get out of the vehicle until he had secured a two-week trial in the job. Wilson gradually made a success of himself at the club where Rice was then assistant manager, working his way up to the position of head of football development.

When he was subsequently appointed as football business director at Watford in 2011, he helped to secure Rice — who played under Brian Clough between 1985 and 1991 as part of the side that won the League Cup twice — a scouting position under manager Sean Dyche.

The reunion saw the duo briefly spend time as flatmates, where they bonded over their shared love of the game.

In 2012, Wilson moved again to become head of football operations at Huddersfield Town. In 2015, he began a four-year stint as director of football operations at Southampton. That led him to be headhunted by Rangers.

Wilson has held senior positions at five different clubs over an 18-year career, and this week he departed his native Scotland for another move south to take on a sixth senior role: joining Forest as a replacement for Filippo Giraldi. His new job title is chief football officer.

Wilson, 39, officially started work on Thursday and has used that time to get to know the staff. He has already had a meeting with Forest manager Steve Cooper.

“I guess it was the normal sort of first day for him,” said Cooper. “It is a big operation here and there are a lot of names to learn. We’ve met and spoken quite a few times previously, on training courses and just around the game.

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“It hasn’t interfered with my day-to-day work; nothing does. I’m a believer that a chief football officer is something the club needs and it will help the club’s progress on and off the pitch. I had a good relationship with Filippo and I’ll work hard to have a good relationship with Ross.”

So what can Forest fans expect from their new chief football officer?

During Wilson’s time at Rangers, they won their first league title in 10 years in the 2020-21 season. They then went on to win the Scottish Cup and reach the final of the Europa League the following season.

But in recent weeks, Wilson and the club’s managing director Stewart Robertson became the target of fan protests at the Glasgow club.

Last month, the singing group at Ibrox, Union Bears, held a banner up near the ground which read, “Ross Wilson — director of failure”, before a large group of the away following at Motherwell displayed pictures of the pair with red strikes through their faces.

It captured the level of anger felt towards the Rangers decision-makers who toppled Celtic in 2020-21 but then immediately oversaw the club losing their grip on the domestic league.

Wilson became one of the lightning rods for what fans saw as mismanagement that allowed Celtic to reassert their dominance.

It is a common difficulty when assessing sporting directors in football: was too much of the blame being levelled at Wilson? Was too much credit given to him for the success at the club during his three-and-a-half years? Or vice versa?

Wilson has a good reputation as a networker and for his ability to build personal relationships with agents and players. When it came to certain aspects of his role at Rangers — such as building the infrastructure behind the scenes and helping to cultivate a positive culture — he was a success.

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Rangers chairman John Bennett said Wilson’s legacy will be how he helped transform the training ground into a facility comparable to the best in Europe, as well as overseeing the women’s team’s transition into the first professional side in Scotland.

But as sporting director, most of the focus is on the men’s first team.

Wilson did not always feel the role was well understood by the fans, and when his transfer record was put under scrutiny at the club’s AGM in December, he said “Ross Wilson does not sign players”.

The majority of the team that won Rangers’ first title in a decade pre-dated Wilson’s arrival in October 2019. Jon McLaughlin, Leon Balogun, Ianis Hagi and Kemar Roofe all contributed to varying degrees but, on that front, his first two years were about adding the finishing touches rather than building blocks.

He was unfortunate in the sense that the investors funding then-manager Steven Gerrard’s build did not supply the same funding after the summer window of 2020. It meant that, for three windows, Rangers were restricted to free transfers or loans but nonetheless their success rate was poor.

He did oversee the purchase of Calvin Bassey in 2020, however, which turned a raw Leicester City academy graduate from a £230,000 (now $462,000) player into a £23million one sold to Ajax.

On the negotiating front, he performed well. He was able to stop the rot of Rangers having to pay out on the contracts of failed signings and he extracted big sums of money for  Bassey and Nathan Patterson (£16million to Everton) — twice breaking the club’s transfer record for a sale.

The reason he became such a target is due to the squad stagnating as the most expensive signings didn’t improve the team sufficiently. The decision to sign Aaron Ramsey and Amad Diallo on loan last January proved a costly mistake, with neither of them contributing what was expected.

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But last summer was seen as the big test of whether he could reinvest proceeds made and make the club’s ‘trading model’ work while still delivering a winning team.

To replace Bassey, they spent £4million on Liverpool centre-back Ben Davies, who was only regularly fit from October onwards. They also spent a similar amount on left-back Ridvan Yilmaz, only for him to be ruled out for four months with a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Wales winger Rabbi Matondo was purchased for close to £3million to fix the problem in that position but has he barely featured.

Wilson’s appointment of Giovanni van Bronckhorst as manager is a decision that is difficult to characterise as a success or a failure. He oversaw an incredible run to the Europa League final, helped develop Bassey and ended the club’s domestic cup drought.

But, in Glasgow, you have to beat Celtic to the league title, and with the atmosphere turning toxic, Wilson turned to Gerrard’s former assistant Michael Beale as the Dutchman’s replacement in November last year.

The relationship Wilson established with Gerrard during their time together in Scotland could be an interesting dynamic if Forest opt to make a managerial change in the future — as could the strong bond he forged with Ralph Hasenhuttl at Southampton.

Wilson can be credited for a lot of good work on the south coast. Like most clubs, Southampton had hits and misses in the transfer market during Wilson’s time, but he helped influence the signing of Virgil van Dijk from Celtic in 2015. He was also behind the appointment of Hasenhuttl, the manager who led the Saints to an 11th-placed finish in the Premier League in 2019-20. Hasenhuttl saw Wilson as a valuable confidant and would regularly call him after games. He remained in contact with Wilson even after the latter had left St Mary’s.

“It was surprising for me,” said Hasenhuttl following Wilson’s departure from Southampton. “I had a good relationship with him. I liked working with him and he had a fantastic character. Ross leaving is a big loss.”

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Although Rangers fans may not share that same sentiment after Wilson left Ibrox, Forest’s new appointment has still delivered some successes in his last two roles and he will hope for more in Nottingham — even if he is arriving at a chaotic time.

Giraldi has always been a hard man to miss. With the collar turned up on his long black jacket, the Italian stood out on the touchline, in the tunnel and on the training ground. With broad shoulders and a serious look perpetually on his face, he gave the impression of a nightclub doorman. But he was also a well-liked figure behind the scenes.

Giraldi would attend the majority of Forest training sessions; he would watch the players warm up and loiter around the tunnel and the dressing room.

For many managers, this would be seen as an imposition — an unwanted shadow cast across the job they were trying to do. But Cooper and Giraldi had a good relationship. The Welshman valued the input of the club’s sporting director. And in turn, Giraldi would often fight Cooper’s corner.

Giraldi was appointed in October during a period when the hierarchy was seriously considering changing their head coach. Giraldi, however, asked for the opportunity to work with Cooper and, with a new approach that saw Forest make themselves tighter at the back, things began to improve.

Forest had a solid January, and victory over Leeds at the start of February rounded off a period that led many to believe the club would cruise to Premier League safety.

Injuries were a major factor in the downturn that followed, with Willy Boly, Scott McKenna and Moussa Niakhate all suffering hamstring problems that left Forest short of defensive options. Taiwo Awoniyi, Cheikhou Kouyate and Ryan Yates were also sidelined for long periods.

But, between Giraldi and Cooper, it was decided that they would not complain about the situation — either in the media or within the confines of the dressing room — as they did not want to be perceived as making excuses.

At Forest, Giraldi became a buffer between the hierarchy and Cooper. Cooper would — and still does — have a debrief with owner Evangelos Marinakis after games. But it was Giraldi who would remain in daily contact with the hierarchy.

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The Italian witnessed a recent improvement in performances of late, with Forest unable to kill off the game in a 1-1 draw with Wolves, before producing an improved display — in comparison to their previous away performances at least — at Aston Villa.

The lack of impact made by some of the January signings was a significant catalyst in Giraldi’s departure. Cooper was understood to be keen on the additions of Chris Wood and Andre Ayew in particular, and Giraldi worked to make them happen.

Wood will not play again this season after suffering a thigh injury which has required surgery to repair. But, before that, he was yet to produce performances that justified the £15million transfer fee Forest are committed to paying after he initially joined on loan.

Among the seven new additions made in January, there were some positives. Danilo is a bright prospect for the future and Gustavo Scarpa has quality, while Keylor Navas has proved to be an important signing with Dean Henderson still in the process of regaining fitness.

The Forest hierarchy has a track record of responding to poor runs of form by making changes — it’s what led to Giraldi’s appointment in the first place. Head of recruitment George Syrianos and head scout Andy Scott both lost their jobs in October, having overseen 22 summer signings.

And they responded again by removing Giraldi this week after seeing Forest go a ninth game without a win.

Cooper remains under significant pressure himself, but the club are also aware that the manager remains popular with the fans.

Club statement: Filippo Giraldi 🗞

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) April 11, 2023

In the aftermath of the game against Villa, Giraldi learned that his time was coming to an end and the decision was confirmed during meetings on Monday at the training ground. With the club’s blessing, he collected his belongings on Tuesday and said his goodbyes. He then returned to Italy.

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Giraldi enjoyed his time at Forest and had every intention to continue playing a role in their fight for survival, and he also leaves on good terms. Whether his departure or the arrival of Wilson will impact the future of Cooper in any way, remains to be seen.

(Top photo: Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)

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