Following the disappointing tenure of Michael Beale, Rangers have had to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and start a new era under former AS Monaco boss Philippe Clement. So far, the Belgian has proven his expertise by remaining unbeaten in his opening four games in charge, which included a 4-0 victory over Hibernian and a 5-0 thrashing of Dundee in the Scottish Premiership.

Whilst things begin to fall into place on the pitch, though, Rangers are still seeking deals to calm the chaos away from Ibrox. Adding to their woes, reports linking the Gers with one particular off-field appointment have since been denied by Mark Hendry of Football Scotland.

Rangers sporting director update

Rangers have been actively searching for a new sporting director this season without enjoying great success. They were briefly linked with a move for Brighton & Hove Albion head of recruitment Sam Jewell, but failed to convince the Seagulls man to leave the Premier League side, who are in the middle of their most successful period in the club's history.

With the January transfer window approaching, the Scottish giants must solve their problem as soon as possible. The last thing they'll want is to head into another window without a leading man, who could help them avoid repeating deals for struggling players. The good news doesn't look likely to come anytime soon, however, with reports suggesting that Stuart Webber is on the Gers' wanted list quickly shut down.

According to Football Scotland's Hendry, Webber will not become the Rangers sporting director and there is currently no interest from the Gers. Instead, the Norwich City recruitment chief has been linked with a move to become Leeds United's head of recruitment, as he edges closer to a Carrow Road exit. The report puts the Scottish side back to square one in the hunt to finally land a sporting director.

Why Rangers need a sporting director

Rangers proved exactly why they need a sporting director during the summer transfer window, with a number of arrivals simply yet to show any signs of working out to leave Clement plenty of problems to solve. A sporting director would have, in theory, put together a far wiser transfer plan. We've seen how clubs such as Liverpool and Brighton have benefitted from the likes of Michael Edwards and Dan Ashworth, who is now enjoying even greater success at Newcastle United. So, why shouldn't Rangers follow the lead of such clubs?

Already five points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership this season, Rangers cannot afford to get things wrong yet again in the January transfer window – their winter reinforcements could make or break their campaign. Clement's start has shown plenty of promise and it looks increasingly likely that those at Ibrox have potentially got their next impressive manager. But he must receive backing and the right players for his system.

As January approaches, it's up to Clement to maintain his side's recent form on the pitch and hand those away from Ibrox more time to finally land a sporting director in the coming months of the campaign.