Rangers sporting director Kevin Thelwell has backed Russell Martin, insisting he is “one of the best” coaches he has worked with.
The Ibrox coach is yet to win a Premiership game, and they trail Old Firm rivals Celtic by six points after Sunday’s goalless draw.
Martin has been under increasing pressure after a 6-0 thrashing by Club Brugge as they lost their Champions League play-off 9-1 on aggregate.
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Highlights from the Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Celtic
The Rangers board backed him in the wake of that defeat with Thelwell adamant he will get things right.
“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 told Rangers TV.
“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.
“He cares about the group. He cares about the results, cares about the performances and also cares about the staff here.
A ‘get him out’ message was left for Rangers after they were dumped out of the Champions League following their 6-0 loss against Club Brugge
“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.
“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, 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.”
‘Must do better’
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Rangers drew at home against Dundee
While Thelwell insists Martin has the continued backing of him and the Ibrox board, he has insisted results need to improve quickly while accepting the fans are low on patience.
“Clearly, we must do better,” he added.
“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.
Rangers have drawn their four Premiership games so far this season
“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.”
‘Pleased’ with transfer business
Youssef Chermiti and Derek Cornelius joined Rangers on deadline day (credit: Rangers FC)
Rangers brought in 12 new players before the transfer deadline, with the £10m signing of Youssef Chermiti from Everton their most expensive since Tore Andre Flo in 2000.
A number of players, including Cyriel Dessers and Hamza Igamane, left the club as Martin looked to make his mark.
“I’m pleased with the business that we’ve done,” Everton’s former director of football added.
“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.
Hamza Igamane and Cyriel Dessers both left Rangers this summer
“In my view, we’ve improved the group across all parts of the team, you know, defence, midfield, attack in a very simple context.
“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.”
What next for Raskin?
Nicolas Raskin was left out of the Rangers squad for Sunday’s Old Firm draw
Nico Raskin was left out of the Rangers squad for Sunday’s Old Firm game after Martin, insisting there had been no breakdown in his relationship with the midfielder.
The Belgian told the club he wanted to stay and Raskin confirmed he will be invited for talks with his manager when he returns from international duty.
“What happens is he goes on international duty, he comes back as a Rangers player. When he comes back, Russell and I sit down with Nico and talk about what we do next,” Thelwell said.
“It’s very, very important that we all understand that we all want the same thing. We all want a better Rangers team. We all want a stronger Rangers team and we all want a winning Rangers team.
Raskin and Martin will hold talks after the international break
“It’s also important to make the point that this year is a very important year for Nico.
“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.
“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.”
