Kevin Thelwell Rangers Q&A in full as he reveals Nico Raskin plan and bigs up derby draw display

Kevin Thelwell Rangers Q&A in full as he reveals Nico Raskin plan and bigs up derby draw display

The Light Blues sporting director spoke in a wide-ranging interview as domestic football takes a break

Rangers Sporting Director Kevin Thelwell

Kevin Thelwell has had a hectic start to life at Rangers along with boss Russell Martin.

‌

The duo have only been in place for three months and already the flak has been flying in their direction.

‌

Out of the Champions League, trailing by six points in the Scottish Premiership and question marks over some of the recruitment

‌

It's fair to say it's been a harsh introduction to life at one of the Big Two in Scotland. Sporting Director Thelwell sat down with the club's in-house media channel - here's every word of his address to the fans.

What is your assessment to the start of the season in terms of performances, results and the overall mood around the club?

First and foremost, I'd say it's been an extremely busy period. There's been a huge amount going on and everybody has been well documented. New ownership, new sporting director, new technical director, new head coach, new coaching team and then a lot of new players. So, my feet haven't really touched the ground, truth be known. We've been working away at trying to build a team out that hopefully in due time, everybody will be very proud of. I appreciate that that hasn't translated just yet into performances on the pitch and fundamentally results. And I think we all understand what needs to happen here. We need to win football matches and we want to win football matches in a particular way. And of course, we're disappointed with that start that we've made. And frustrated. We also understand that the fans are frustrated. And in particular, I'd turn to one game in particular that I think is the most disappointing for us, which is the Club Brugge game away. So, a very difficult game for everybody, the fans included. And I think we all understand or certainly understood after that game that we needed to put it right quickly. And hopefully we'll do that over the course of the next games. But a lot of work done. And I appreciate nobody's yet seen the value of that. But hopefully in due course, we will. And we can give everybody a team to be proud of.

‌

You touched on the volume of change this summer. Have some of these challenges been a natural consequence of the volume of change that we have seen here?

Yeah, I think so. And I'd probably start by the decision to make that volume of change. So this is not a Russell decision or a Kevin decision. It's a collective decision. We all recognise that change was needed. And there was change needed in lots of different spaces, especially across the group. And so that's exactly what we're trying to do. And so we work very, very hard over the course of the window to make those changes and hopefully bring a group of players that can make a significant difference to the performances of the team. But of course, when you make so much change, that creates a little bit of volatility. It creates a little bit of inconsistency. And there has to be clear messaging for all of those players that come through the door and they need to acclimatise very, very quickly. And sometimes that's not easy. So we're working very hard now, now that the window has shut, to get absolutely everybody onto one page, to be very clear about what we need to do going forwards. And again, I hope the fan base will see the benefits of that in due course.

On head coach Russell Martin, how has it been working with him day to day through this challenging period?

‌

I've been very lucky over the course of my career to work with some very good managers and some very good head coaches. And I have to say to you, he's one of the best. He's a very good coach, very good on the grass, very well organised. He's extremely high energy. So he gives time to players, wants to work with players and wants to develop players, wants to be very clear about trying to make players better and develop them. And also he cares about the group. He cares about the results, cares about the performances and also cares about the staff here. I found him very collaborative. Now, I appreciate I'm saying all of those things and we haven't quite translated yet that what I'm seeing on a day-to-day basis, all of that hard work, all of that energy into what we need to see on the pitch. But I'm certain that that will happen. And I appreciate it's very easy for me to sit here and ask for patience. I won't do that because I know we work at an incredible football club that desires and needs to have a winning team very quickly. But there also needs to be a little bit of perspective here because we have changed so much and hopefully in due course, again, the fans and everybody will see all of the good work that's been going on out on the pitch through the performances.

What is it that gives you that confidence that Russell is the right man to lead this group?

From my perspective, again, I'm looking at the people that I have worked with over the course of time, some very good managers, some very good head coaches, and I'm looking at what Russell's delivering on a day to day basis. And it's of a very high standard. We've got a clear message in terms of what we want to try to achieve. And that hasn't changed from the first moment that we were both appointed, effectively, which is we want an aggressive team. We want a team that has a higher level of intensity. We want the fan base to be proud of a team that holds and has similar values, honesty, hard work, respect, humility out on the pitch.

‌

Rangers manager Russell Martin

We've seen glimpses of that. I don't think we've quite put together a body of work that says we've seen that consistently, but I don't necessarily think that's down to one point. And we've already talked about the consequence of change. But I am very confident that that will come in due course based on what I see on a day to day basis, which is a coach and a group of coaches that are working very hard in terms of delivering very strong messages, very strong coaching sessions, very strong support for players to hopefully get everybody to understand exactly what is required on the pitch and then go out and do it. I understand we've got to do it. And so hopefully when we get back to the Hearts game and the games going forwards, we'll see a bit more of what we saw in the Old Firm.

We saw a more pragmatic approach to the game against Celtic. Is that a sign of things to come?

‌

Well, first and foremost, I'd say that was a good performance. I don't necessarily think it was a great performance, but without question, that certainly was a performance that was heading in the right direction. What we need to do going forwards is deliver the result in the first instance. So I understand that whilst I say we play well, a draw is not what we're aiming for here. We want to win those games and we need to win those games going forwards. But I think what we did see is a lot of the values that I think the fan base would epitomise as being important for the team were on showing that game, you know, honesty, hard work, respect, humility, aggression, intensity. And that really has to be a basic fundamental for performances going forwards. I think this group of players have shown that they can deliver that. Now they must hold themselves to account and we must hold them to account to deliver that every time they step over that white line.

Moving on to the transfer window now, it came to a close at the start of the week. It's been one of the busiest for the club. How do you view that overall?

First and foremost, I'm pleased with the business that we've done. So if we take the incoming players, I think we've got a nice balance within the group. And what I mean by that is we've got some young and hungry players, players that can help us now, but can also develop and stay with us for a longer period. And now that the window's closed, we've brought in some senior players as well that should also help the group and the group chemistry. You can't have all young players because they don't have the necessary experience and expertise and they're still growing and developing. And neither can you have all senior players because, you know, you need some of this hunger that young players bring and this fearlessness. And so I think now the window's closed, I think we've got a nice balance to the group. In my view, we've improved the group across all parts of the team, you know, defence, midfield, attack in a very simple context. And now it's about actually getting to work with this group of players that are all now in the same space together and focusing down on what we need to achieve, which is creating a winning team that Rangers fans can be proud of, the club can be proud of.

‌

Just on the level of investment over this window, have you been pleased with the level of investment and the transfer fees recouped from players too?

Andrew (Cavenagh) and the ownership have been very supportive and we've seen that. I think it's circa a £20 million net spend, which is a big number in our context. And so I think that should be, fans should see that in a very positive way. It sends a very clear message about what we want to do with the team. We want to build a better team. We want to build a stronger team and the ownership are committed to doing that. And I've done that from a financial perspective in this window. It's not all about buying players, of course, and we can't expect ownership to be spending year on year in that way. We have to play our part in that. And so outgoings and trading is also, or also has to be, you know, a significant part of anybody's trading model. And so whilst we don't want to lose players, certainly the ones we want to go with us, there is a necessity to trade. And I think we've traded well in this space, in this period.

Just going into a bit more detail on an earlier point about the squad improving, you feel it's improved. What were the key areas for you in that, that you feel have been improved over this window?

‌

Yeah, well, again, if I'm going to talk in a very broad context, you know, we felt there was improvement needed from a defensive perspective. We were obviously losing some players that were out of contract there. I think we've done that. We wanted to improve from a midfield perspective and also add more, more individuals in a wide area. And then also we had some significant changes at striker, you know, and it was clear when I first started that there was possibly going to be some movement in terms of Hamza and Cyriel because they had lots of interest. And also potentially if there was going to be some interest that they might want to leave us. And so it was clear that we needed to work hard in that area to make sure we delivered at least two strikers that were going to support Danny and to make sure we had a group of strikers that were also very strong. So if I'm talking broadly, yeah, without question, in my opinion, we've improved the group and we've improved the team. There's certainly a lot more depth. I appreciate if I'm a fan sitting and watching this interview, they'll be saying 'yeah, OK, Kev, but we haven't quite seen that in terms of what they've produced on the pitch so far'. But I'm very, very confident now that we're all in the building in one space and that we're all together. That will improve going forwards.

A number of the incoming players have been loan deals. Was that a deliberate strategy, this window?

Well, loan deals are something that I've used over the course of my career. And so I'd probably say a couple of things on that strategy. Number one, when you're making so much change, you can't buy everybody because you'll just run out of money very quickly. Two, it's not a bad strategy to say, OK, we're going to loan with option by way of example, because effectively what you're doing is you're trying before you buy, and that seems to be sensible, especially in an environment like this where you have to acclimatise very quickly and it's not an easy environment to play. So sometimes I'm sure everybody's seen players who've came here and been able to cope and be able to deliver high level performances. And also there'll be lots of players that haven't. And so understanding whether players can or can't do that without them being locked into a four or five year contract seems to make sense to me. And then also there are some players that we brought that are just loans and we haven't got options on, which is not my preferred space at all. But in reality, it gives you an opportunity to sometimes access players that normally you wouldn't be able to access. So they help us with their performances. They help their group with higher level performances over the course of the season. So, yeah, loans, loan with option and that sort of strategy, I think, has to, again, form part of any process for any window.

‌

One area we have seen some change in this window has been in the left back position. Are you confident there's enough strength and depth in that area?

Yeah, well, I'd say first and foremost, very happy with the way in which Jayden started life as a Rangers player. He's been very good in a lot of his performances and also a lot to come. I'd also say that this is a position that we talked about many, many times over the course of the window internally to make sure that we have got the right strength and depth. And probably one of the reasons that we brought Derek Cornelius to the football club was to support in that area. So over the course of Derek's career, he's played at left-sided centre-back primarily, but he's also played left-sided in a three and he's also played at left-back. So our expectation is that if we do have a problem in that area, then Derek would be able to support us. I also think there's other possibilities within the squad. Dio's obviously played there over the course of time on occasion. Dujon's obviously played there. And of course, Tav and also Max have shown the capability to play and switch from the right to the left. So within the group, we've got lots of solutions if we do have a problem.

The English market has featured quite heavily too. What's been the thinking there?

‌

I was appointed on the 1st of June and so for me, clearly, the role was about hitting the ground running with the men's first team in particular. And so from my perspective, it made perfect sense to say, OK, well, which is the market that Dan (Purdy) and I know better than any other market? And so it seemed sensible to me to say, OK, well, there are some very good players in that market. And there are also a lot of players in that market that we have high level experience of, high level knowledge of.

Joe Rothwell of Rangers

And therefore, there's potentially less risk in signing. And then when they do come, of course, we're all in the UK. They're able to translate quickly, acclimatise quickly and hopefully hit the ground running. And again, I appreciate there's some work to do in that space. I think going forwards, what we'll see is also looking at markets that are wider, further afield and taking up good opportunities within those markets. But of course, hitting the ground running meant that we haven't been able to put in place process and strategy for some of those wider markets. And so, of course, what that does is it brings more risk. And so we wanted to take less risk and make sure that we brought players that we had really strong affinity for and with, players that we think we knew that could do the job and were capable of doing the job. And hopefully they'll prove that now, like I say, we're all in the building.

‌

Over the course of this summer too, there has been some noise around Nico Raskin and Hamza Igamane. Has that been a challenge for you and for the club?

No, not in particular, because just the way in which football is organised, there's always going to be some of these things going on. And so it's the same at any other football club really. And most of it circles around the transfer market. And we forget that these are young people, young players. And so when there's some conjecture about whether, or some speculation about whether they're going to stay or whether they're going to go, are they going to be Rangers players or are they not going to be Rangers players? That can be difficult for some players to balance and to understand and to make sense of on a day-to-day basis. So Hamza in particular, it was clear that there was some interest in him. And also there was also some clarity that if that opportunity came, he wanted to go. And so that's just a normal part of football. My hope is now that the transfer window is closed, all of these things sort of naturally sort of settle down anyway. And the focus should clearly be placed on doing what we need to do, which is everybody being together, everybody being focused on the job at hand and everybody working together to create a stronger Rangers team.

A bit more specifically on Nico, he is still a Rangers player. What happens next with him?

‌

Well, he's away on international duty now. So to my mind, what happens is he goes on international duty, he comes back as a Rangers player. And when he comes back, Russell and I sit down with Nico and talk about what we do next. And again, it's very important that we all understand that we all want the same thing.

Russell Martin and Nicolas Raskin (Image: SNS Group)

We all want a better Rangers team. We all want a stronger Rangers team and we all want a winning Rangers team. And I think it's also important to make the point that this year is a very important year for Nico. You know, he's a terrific player. He's obviously a full Belgium international. He's got a World Cup coming up. I'm sure he's going to want to be a strong part of that. And so him doing his best for Rangers and playing as well for Rangers is going to be important to him. And of course, it's going to be important to us. So a conversation to be had in due course.

‌

Just looking beyond the men's first team, what are you working on now? What's next?

It's been frustrating because there's lots to work on. But of course, the transfer window takes priority in this period, and especially when we want to try and do so much in the market to develop and build a better team. So the whole focus of my time so far is being on that transfer window. But as I've said to many people in the building, now that that window's closed, the hard work really starts because, you know, we want to be successful today and win today. Of course we do. But we also need to build structures and process and strategy and vision that help us to sustain that success to win tomorrow.

Article continues below

And so that will be what we'll be focusing down on, putting in place a lot of process, a lot of structure, making sure we get organised in a particular way that helps the team or teams, academy, women's, girls, men, to all be successful. A key part of the role is, of course, men's first team, and often you get judged on what you do in the transfer market and how well the first team men's does. But also a big part of the job is how we then develop players from the academy, how we then create a pipeline that brings those young players through from academy to first team. And then also we want all of our teams to be successful. All of the Rangers teams. So we'll be working closely with Donald on the women's side and Leanne also on the women's side to make sure that we support the women's team as best we can and support the girls' academy as best we can. So that all of our processes are as strong across the building as they possibly can be.

And just lastly, what are your closing thoughts as we head into this international break and then on to the next phase of the season?

Yeah, well, clearly we must do better, but let's be honest. In reality, what we've delivered so far hasn't been good enough. And I think we all understand that that needs to improve and we're all frustrated with that. But also, I would also say to you there is a huge amount of alignment within this building and there's a huge amount of alignment with leadership team and ownership that believes that we're heading in the right direction and believes that we can deliver that success that everybody is craving with the group of people that we're currently working with. And so on that basis, we'll be working tirelessly and working as hard as we possibly can to deliver that. And I also appreciate that needs to be delivered quickly. What I can't do is I can't sit here and say we need patience and we need time and people need to wait because we haven't earned that. But there just needs to be some perspective. And so all I can say to you is we'll be working as hard as we possibly can to deliver what we know that everybody wants, which is a winning and successful team.

Click here to read article