KEVIN THELWELL says there is huge alignment behind the scenes at Rangers as the board, executives, management, players and staff work to deliver the best results for the club.
With the transfer window coming to a close on Monday, the Sporting Director sat down for an exclusive interview with RangersTV to discuss the summer period, working with Russell Martin, and the vision moving forward both on and off the pitch.
Reflecting on the first few months of the season for the men’s team, Thelwell said: “It has been an extremely busy period, there has been a huge amount going on and that has been well documented.
“There has been new ownership, a new sporting director, a new technical director, a new head coach, a new coaching team and then a lot of new players. We have been working away at trying to build a team that hopefully in due time everyone will be very proud of.
“I appreciate that hasn't translated just yet into performances on the pitch and fundamentally into results. We all understand what needs to happen here, we need to win football matches and of course, we are disappointed and frustrated with that start we have made. We also understand the fans are frustrated.
“I would turn to one game in particular, which is the most disappointing and that is the game away to Club Brugge. It was a very difficult game for everybody, and I think we all understood after that game that we needed to put it right quickly.
“Clearly, we must do better. Let’s be honest, what we have delivered has not been good enough. We understand that has to improve and we are frustrated by that.
“What I can’t do is say ‘we need patience and time, and people need to wait’. We haven’t earned that but there needs to be some perspective, we are working as hard as we can to deliver what we know everyone wants, which is a winning and successful team.”
On working with Russell Martin day-to-day at the training centre, Thelwell continued: “I have been very lucky over the course of my career to work with some very good head coaches, and I have to say he is one of the best.
“He is a very good coach, he is very good on the grass, he is very well organised, and he has an extremely high energy. He cares about the group, about the results, about the performances and he cares about the staff here.
“We have got a clear message in terms of what we are trying to achieve and that hasn't changed from the first moment. We want an aggressive team, we want a team that has a high level of intensity, we want the fanbase to be proud of a team that holds and has similar values of honesty, hard work, respect and humility out on the pitch.
“We have seen glimpses, but I don't think we have quite put together a body of work that says we have seen that consistently.
“What I see on a day-to-day basis is a group of coaches who are working very, very hard in terms of delivering strong messages, strong coaching sessions and strong support for players to hopefully get everybody to understand exactly what is required.”
With the transfer window now closed, Thelwell’s focus will turn to other areas in the club, he continued: “It has been frustrating because there is lots to work on, but the transfer window takes priority in that period, especially when we want to do so much in the market to build a better team.
“The whole focus of my time has been on the window but now it is closed the hard work really starts. We want to be successful today and win today, but we need to build structures, processes and strategies that help us sustain that success to win tomorrow.
“You can be judged on how the men’s first-team do, but a big part of the job is how we develop from the Academy and how we create that pipeline that brings them through to the first-team.
“We want all of our teams to be successful so I will be working with Donald Gillies and Leanne Crichton on the women’s side to support them the best we can, as well as the girls’ academy. We want to be as strong across the building as we can be.”
Watch the interview with Kevin Thelwell in full below.
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