New Rangers head coach sends clear message to Ibrox doubters as two members of backroom team confirmed

Russell Martin has confirmed two members of his Rangers backroom team after being officially unveiled as the club’s 20th permanent head coach at Ibrox this morning.

The 39-year-old Englishman - who has signed a three-year contract in Govan after being named as Philippe Clement’s successor - took his seat alongside CEO Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell as he addressed the media for the first time and posed for photographs inside the Blue Room.

And the former Southampton, MK Dons and Swansea City boss has revealed Matt Gill will be his assistant manager, with Rhys Owen also joining the club as physical performance coach. The ex-central defender admitted that he will assess over the coming weeks if he require more faces on his staff.

“It’s just those two at the moment,” Martin stated when asked who will be joining him in the Ibrox dugout.

The 29-capped former Scotland international has vowed to win over his doubters and make the Light Blues a force to be reckoned with again, having convinced the club’s new American owners that he is the right man to spearhead the Rangers revival.

Russell Martin aims to win over Ibrox doubters

His appointment appears to have divided opinion among supporters who have voiced concerns over Martin’s managerial credentials. Quizzed if he was confident of getting critics onside, Martin admitted: “Yeah, I have to be. I have a lot to prove. My whole career has been based on proving people wrong, really.

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“At every level, I got questioned. There are always some names in football management that are always a bit more exciting than others, of course. But I feel after five-and-a-half years of being a manager, coach, a leader - I love doing it. And i’m going to be all in here, bringing my energy, my love for it and passion and hopefully that will reflect on the pitch and people will see that.

“At some point, they’ll enjoy it and hopefully I’m sure if our team is winning, they’ll be happy. The supporters are the most important at any football club. They’ll be here long before and after any manager or coach. So I think my job is to give them a team that they identify with and feel proud of.

“A team that wins and they go to a game knowing what to expect. A team that’s going to give everything, to run as hard as they possibly can. I think that’s one thing that gets overlooked about the teams we managed. They always ran the most out of possession, the most sprint distances, the most high-speed runs.

“They have to if they want to dominate the ball and be aggressive, so I think it’s a given. It’s never a given actually, it’s an attribute. You need to work hard and not everyone has that. So we want people that have that to come to the club.”