Kevin Thelwell has already told Rangers his transfer non negotiables as Sean Dyche lesson sparks Ibrox hint
The former Wolves man is leaving Everton in the summer to join Rangers amid takeover talks.
Kevin Thelwell has already aired his recruitment principals as he gets set for Rangers.
The incoming sporting director is leaving Everton and taking up a key role at Ibrox amid a proposed takeover by 49ers Enterprises. After a disappointing campaign that has brought no trophies, a new permanent manager will be needed, and a rebuild of the playing squad could also happen.
Thelwell has also worked with Wolves and at New York Red Bulls, the energy drink giants who have branched into sport across Formula 1 and football being investors in 49ers Enterprises. Fans will be keen to know what Thelwell’s ideas are when it comes to recruitment and in a previous podcast with the Training Ground Guru in late 2023, Thelwell has already spelt out to his new club what his transfer non negotiables are. He said the Red Bull model was to have a clear identity, in a hint that Rangers may be about to inherit similar.
What incoming Rangers sporting director Kevin Thelwell thinks about transfers
He said: “I mean, in my opinion, they couldn't be clearer in terms of how they want to play. And certainly from a recruitment perspective, we got in a spot there with New York Red Bull, and as well across other teams, where we were saying, yeah, this guy's a really good player, but he's not a Red Bull player.
“So he could play for maybe a different team, but he just won't be successful with us, because they were really clear about player identity, player philosophy, what they wanted from each player in their position, and how they wanted the teams to play effectively. And that gave us a really clear bandwidth about how we could then search for players. I think if you haven't got that, if you haven't got that clear identity, it's very difficult to put a methodology together, because you're not sure about exactly what you're looking for sometimes. The clearer you are, the better you are, the easier it is.”
What Sean Dyche taught him at Everton
When at Everton, Thelwell also learned a key recruitment lesson from former boss Sean Dyche that made him realise how important a clear football philosophy is, something he could bring into Rangers. He added: “It's about culture, and it's about identity. So, I mean, Everton's got an incredible history and an incredible tradition. And it's clear that it values a lot of things, and it wants its people and its players to behave in a particular way. So it's about us making sure that everybody understands that, because the reality is, if you work for Everton, they're going to want to see those things in the way in which you operate.
“And so I think it's a big part of what we do, really. So that starts with the players and Sean, he's very, very clear about what he wanted when he first came in. One of his great sayings is we need to get some sweat on the shirt. For me, that's an embodiment of some of those core values, you know, honesty, hard work, respect, humility, etc.
“I's a nod to working class values, really, which is what we are from an Everton perspective. How we play, again, it's about very clear football philosophy, very clear game model. It's about saying, what do we expect our teams to do when they've got the ball, when they haven't got the ball, when they're transitioning to one or the other? You know, where we really want to get to is, we want to get to a spot where people are able to go to any pitch and regardless of colour on the shirt, they're able to pick out the Everton team, you know, and for there to be some synergy between what happens at different age groups. And of course, there's loads of different benefits that can come from that in terms of helping young players to progress through the pipeline.
“How we support? How do we create the very best support service that helps our teams to succeed effectively? So, and again, across all of these, we're talking about a very clear plan, which is, okay, well, what does great look like? Where are we against that standard? We're actively talking to staff members about not only looking at Everton, but looking at other football clubs, looking at other businesses, other organisations, other sports and saying, come on, what's the standard?”