Nottingham Forest want to appoint Ross Wilson to a “senior football“ role.
The two-time European Cup winners are on the hunt to replace former sporting director Filippo Giraldi, who left theEnglish Premier League outfit earlier on Tuesday. The Athletic reports that Forest have made Wilson their top target and have made contact with Rangers in an attempt to recruit the 39-year-old, and there is a confidence amongst club power brokers that he will accept.
Wilson has come under fire from Rangers fans, who want to see him moved on after overseeing what they feel has been a run of poor recruitment since they won the Scottish Premiership title in 2021. Working closely with Wilson, Steven Gerrard helped end a decade in the wilderness by stopping Celtic claiming an historic tenth title in a row. Since then however, it’s been a bumpy ride for Wilson, who replaced Gerrard with Gio van Bronckhorst, only for the Dutchman to be sacked less than a year after being appointed.
The blame for the contract situations of Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent has also been laid at Wilson’s door. The pair, who were once two of the club's most sellable assets, are set to leave for nothing in a matter of weeks when their contracts expire. A number of signings made for this season also haven’t worked, with the likes of John Souttar, Rabbi Matondo, Ridvan Yilmaz and Tom Lawrence struggling for form and fitness. More than once, fans have unveiled banners at games criticising the sporting director.
Whether a return to England appeals to Wilson remains to be seen. He’s turned down offers during his time at Ibrox before, although Forest were keen on him before he opened talks with the Govan club to return north after working at Huddersfield, Watford and Southampton.
