Dave King has told Rangers' new owners to be wary of appointing a European manager who knows little about Scottish football.
King had recently claimed Steven Gerrard was the "obvious" choice to land the job, the pair having worked together when King was chairman during Gerrard's first spell as boss.
But the 45-year-old pulled out of the running due to family commitments and that seemingly leaves Russel Martin and Davide Ancelotti as the two candidates, while Francesco Farioli has also been spoken to.
Martin had a short spell at Ibrox as a player and is a former Scotland international while the other two have no experience of the game in this country.
King has strongly suggested going for someone in that category would be a massive risk, though he did back the new US owners to "manage" the risk to the best of their ability.
Read more: Kevin Thelwell provides update on Rangers manager search, confirms Purdy arrival
Purdy replaces Koppen: What next for Rangers? - Video debate
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "If I look at who is available for the club, I think it's quite a challenge for them because when you're bringing in a new manager I refer to the Glasgow environment.
"Some people think that's a little bit unfair but certainly in my experience, Mark Warburton and others all thought they got the Glasgow thing. But until you get to Glasgow you don't get the Glasgow thing. Even someone like Steven (Gerrard) who came from Liverpool where you think is closer to the Glasgow thing.
"Once you come in and you're managing one of the two big clubs in Glasgow...you can try and think you understand it and you can speak to people who have been there before, but until you actually get in there you don't really get it.
"So I think that's the factor that I would be wary of and I think the 49ers will consider bringing in a European manager that's got no experience of Scottish football at all. That's going to go from Champions League qualifiers to going off to the north of Scotland on a drab, wet, windy Wednesday evening and have to motivate your players and try and get a result.
"But I do think the new owners understand the challenges. They know it's a risky appointment and I think they'll manage the risk as best they can."
