Andrew Cavenagh in galling Rangers transfer confession as 49ers January priority becomes clear
The roundtable meeting included a number of representatives from the club.
After Rangers’ worst start to league campaign in 47 years, discussions have begun between multiple club representatives to prevent further damage to the club.
They took their time but Patrick Stewart and Kevin Thelwell have finally appointed a new manager at Ibrox in the form of Danny Rohl. The managerial appointment process has been described as a ‘shambles’ by former striker, Kris Boyd, after multiple knock-backs from the likes of Steven Gerrard, Kevin Muscat and even Rohl himself at one stage.
As Rangers move into their latest new managerial era, discussions between fans, board members and other club representatives have been ongoing. According to the Rangers FC Fan Advisory Board, conversations were had about the appointment of Russell Martin, the new manager and recruitment. When speaking of the latter, Gers chairman Andrew Cavenagh made a shock admission regarding the summer transfer window.
‘We tried to do too much, too quickly’ - Cavenagh
According to updates provided by Rangers FAB on X, Cavenagh said that regarding the transfer window, Rangers tried to do ‘too much, too quickly’ in the summer and an admission was made that there is now a big demand for more ‘leaders’ in the team. This appeared to be the biggest issue for fans in the meeting, who claimed that Rangers signed too many ‘project players’ in the summer with little experience.
The main example of this would be Youssef Chermiti, who Rangers signed from Everton for £10m including add ons despite the Portuguese striker only registering three senior goals in his entire career to date. The 21-year old is yet to make an impact at Ibrox and appears to be behind Bojan Miovski in the number-nine selection pecking order, despite the North Macedonians being a fraction of the price.
During the summer, former Ibrox fan favourites Vaclav Cerny and Abdallah Sima were sold for less than the Chermiti price, leaving Gers fans perplexed as to why they didn’t go for their tried and tested individuals. Despite this, the club reaffirmed their confidence in the player trading model and believe it will turn over profits in the long-run if they stick by it.
Thelwell ‘not solely’ controlling transfers
One of the rumoured reasons the Rangers job was turned down by a plethora of candidates is that they wouldn’t have full autonomy when it comes to signing players, as Kevin Thelwell is perceived to be in large control of transfers. However, the Ibrox Sporting Director denies this is the case, stating he has never signed a player without a full buy-in from the manager in his whole career and that would continue.
The 51-year old joined from Everton in the summer and has already came under his fair share of scrutiny at Ibrox. During Martin’s short rein, Thelwell said he was ‘one of the best managers’ he had worked when giving him a vote of confidence when he was under pressure at the start of the season. A month later, he was given his marching orders.
Thelwell has also came under criticism for appointing his son, Robbie as Head of First Team Recruitment in Govan, however he claims that if he hadn’t appointed his 26-year old boy, he would’ve been head-hunted by others.