Russell Martin quotes on Rangers loan spell revisited
The 39-year-old, who had a short loan spell at the club in 2018, will sign a three-year deal after agreeing terms.
Martin will be officially unveiled by the club within the next 48 hours.
He has been chosen over Davide Ancelotti as the preferred candidate for the role.
Martin, who was on loan from Norwich, played 17 times for Rangers during the 2017/18 season.
Read more: Former Rangers stars could be axed after just one year at Turkish club
Russell Martin reveals he 'turned down a few jobs' before agreeing Rangers deal
The club finished third in the Scottish Premiership that season and sacked manager Pedro Caixinha after just a few months in charge.
Speaking to the Eastern Daily Press in 2018 about his time at Rangers, Martin said: "I don't think anything can prepare you for it.
"It's huge.
"You've got an idea, but it's only when you go up there that you realise how big it is.
"Just walking around the streets, it's a giant of a football club with a great fan base.
"For me, it was a bit wrong place, wrong time.
"The club was a bit all over the place and then a change of manager, who was an interim manager anyway (Graeme Murty).
"But I loved playing for a football club of that size and that support."
Martin's experience of the club, albeit during a troubled time, is expected to help him in his new role.
He previously admitted he didn't fully understand the scale of Rangers until he joined.
His knowledge of the club and its demands are expected to stand him in good stead as he takes on the managerial position.
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STV News
34 minutes ago
- STV News
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The new regime at Ibrox aim to deliver sustained success in domestic competition, as well as progress in Europe, but finished last season 17 points behind a Celtic side that has won the title four years in a row and had a virtual stranglehold on silverware in Scotland. In the last five seasons Rangers have won three trophies, while Celtic have racked up nine and underlined their position as the strongest side in the country. Stewart says he is convinced that the balance of power will change, and that it will happen more quickly with new faces at the club and an imminent cash investment of £20m through a share issue. 'From the outset of taking on this role, I've always been confident that we can close any gap, if it exists, within Scotland,' he said. 'And I've always been confident we can do that with or without new investment. 'What the new investment allows us to do is accelerate on the plans and strategy. 'I've always been confident we can do that, and now we have new ownership that are highly engaged, highly committed, and we're bringing in new management like Kevin on Monday and Russell today, I think we are in a really good position. 'Of course I'm confident. I'm very confident about that.' SNS Group Russell Martin was unveiled as the new head coach of Rangers after a months-long recruitment process. Central to hopes of getting to the top of Scottish football is the appointment of Martin, who is tasked with delivering a winning side. The former MK Dons, Swansea and Southampton boss is the permanent successor to Philippe Clement, who was sacked in February. A number of candidates were linked with the club, and former Real Madrid coach Davide Ancelotti was one under serious consideration, but the chief executive said the long wait to make a decision was down to a rigorous process to make sure the right individual was brought in. 'It's been a lengthy process, we don't shy away from that and I think to some people's frustration it's not been more quick, Stewart explained. 'The first thing that we wanted to do was make sure we were hiring a head coach that matched the style of football we believe we need to play to be successful on a long-term basis. 'Once we had identified that, there's a lot of data analysis and it creates a lot of long lists. Then there's video analysis to look at how their teams perform. There's a lot of interviews to understand the character of the various candidates and then there's references taken so you understand how they worked in practice and it's not just a good interview. 'So that's a very long process and throughout that I've seen names who have been mentioned in the media, some who may have been involved and some who may not. 'But we only made one offer for this role and that was to Russell Martin. 'We're delighted he accepted it.' News of Martin's appointment has been met with hostility from some of the Rangers support, with many unconvinced that the former player, who had an underwhelming loan spell at Ibrox in 2018, is the best choice. 'We're always very sensitive and aware of supporter sentiment on any issue,' Stewart insisted. 'I'm aware that supporters have strong views on who the right person for the role is. 'We'll always factor that in to a degree but equally, I've been talking a lot about process and making sure we have people and experts in who are qualified to make decisions. 'We really put our trust in a process and making sure we've got the right people to make decisions and it really has been following that with a lot of discipline. 'We're not oblivious to the noise at all. Not at all. 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BBC News
36 minutes ago
- BBC News
Rangers now in 'seismic' period
Rangers chief executive Patrick Stewart says the "seismic" changes the club have recently put in place lay "a really strong foundation for the future".In the past week alone, new owners, a new sporting director and a new head coach have all been ushered leaves Stewart confident that Andrew Cavenagh and the San Francisco 49ers' consortium – along with Kevin Thelwell and Russell Martin at the head of football operations – can have a transformational effect on the Ibrox club."It clearly is incredibly significant," Stewart said. "That's three seismic changes: a change of ownership, followed by a sporting director coming in, followed by a head coach being announced. "That's an awful lot of activity for one club in one week. I think it does herald a really positive new chapter for the club. I think it is a seismic period for the club and sets a really strong foundation for the future."Stewart clearly anticipates progress and he'd like it quickly. What he does not expect is a largescale spending spree. Sustainability is the watchword, with Martn only being promised "a decent amount" of the recent £20m investment from the new owners, according to his chief executive. Stewart is also determined not to resort to old habits and expect shareholders or investors to bail the club out."Since I came in, we've been looking at a strategy in which Rangers can become successful on a sustained basis but also on a financially sustainable basis," he said."We don't want to be going back to shareholders, ideally, and asking them to put their hands in their pockets. So it's up to me and the rest of the team to put in place a strategy that will make sure we're financially self-sustainable."That includes player trading."A European revenue stream is extremely important to us and, if we can move up a league, to the Champions League, that's an enhanced revenue stream, but that's all about getting it right on the pitch," Stewart said."We're looking at all different avenues for generating greater revenue. Ideally, in a way, that means we're not looking to ownership, going cap in hand season after season. "It's going to take us a while to get there, but we're putting in place the building blocks. "The most pressing question on a lot of lips around Ibrox is a familiar one: how quickly can the gap to four-in-a-row champions Celtic be closed? While Stewart is bullish about the challenge of catching up with their neighbours across the city, he is keen to shift the emphasis elsewhere when it comes to the main expectation on their new head coach."It's first and foremost about taking the current squad that we've got and making it better - then also adding to the squad over the summer," the chief executive suggested. "It's about competing again. "I think we all accept that last season just past, we were way off. That's not where we want to be, that's not acceptable as a club. It's about competing again on all fronts. That is the expectation." 'Not oblivious to noise' over Martin choice It is certainly what the Rangers supporters want, with Stewart acutely aware the board's choice of former Southampton manager Martin has not gone down universally well with the Ibrox fanbase."I'm aware supporters have strong views on who the right person for the role is," he said. "We're not oblivious to the noise. Not at all. "We're confident though – because we conducted such a thorough process - that the supporters will get behind him, particularly when they see him in action."With pre-season training just a matter of weeks away, Stewart knows the club has to stop sacking managers after the short reigns of Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale and Philippe Clement did not deliver what was challenge for Martin is not an easy one: deliver culture change and good results he can, he will be an integral part of the "strong future" his chief executive sees on Rangers' horizon.
Daily Record
40 minutes ago
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Inside next Rangers manager hiring process as Patrick Stewart sets record straight on Russell Martin offer
Davide Ancelotti, Steven Gerrard, Brian Priske and Francesco Farioli were all heavily linked with the vacancy Patrick Stewart insists Russell Martin was always the new Ibrox board's top pick to be Rangers manager. The 39-year-old was yesterday handed the honour of being just the 20th man to take the top job in Govan. It comes after a lengthy four-month head-hunting process during which Stewart and his new sporting director Kevin Thelwell met with a number of other candidates. Former Real Madrid No. 2 Davide Ancelotti - son of five-time Champions League-winning boss Carlo - was thought to be the frontrunner for the gig for a spell, while the likes of ex-Ibrox gaffer Steven Gerrard, former Feyenoord coach Brian Priske and recently axed Ajax manager Francesco Farioli were also rumoured to be in the running. But Stewart was adamant that Martin was always the stand-out candidate. The Gers CEO said: 'It has been a lengthy process and I don't think we shy away from that. I think to some people's frustration it's not been more quickly. 'As I explained at the outset, the first thing that we wanted to do was make sure that we were hiring a head coach that matched the style of football we believe we need to play in order to be successful on a long term basis. 'Once we identified that then a lot of data analysis and it creates long lists and then there's a lot of video analysis to look at how coaches, coaching practice, how their teams perform. 'There's a lot of interviews to understand the characters of the coaches of the various candidates. There's also a lot of references taken so you understand how they've worked in practice and it's not just a good interview etc. 'So that's a very long process and throughout that I've seen names have been mentioned in the media. Some may have been involved, some may not have been involved but we only made one offer for this role and that was to Russell Martin and we're delighted he accepted it.' The appointment of the former MK Dons, Swansea and Southampton boss has been met with what can at best be described as a lukewarm welcome from the Ibrox legions. But Stewart is confident the former Scotland defender will be a success after carrying out extensive background research. 'I think first of all, we're always very sensitive and aware of supporter sentiment on any issue, and I'm aware that supporters have strong views on who the right person for the role is,' said Stewart. 'We'll always factor that into a degree but equally I've been talking a lot today about process and making sure we've got people and experts that are qualified to make decisions. 'So we really put our trust in a process, making sure we've got the right people in to make decisions and so it has been following that with a lot of discipline. "We're not oblivious to the noise at all, not at all, but I think we are confident that because we've conducted such a thorough process to take us to this point where we've appointed Russell that we're confident that the supporters will get behind him, particularly when we see him in action.' The appointment of Martin came less than a week after the club's new American owners finally took hold of the keys to Ibrox. While it was Thelwell and Stewart who led the search for Philippe Clement's replacement, it was done in consultation with the Stateside pretenders waiting in the wings to take over. Stewart said: 'So Andrew Cavenagh and Paraag Marathe, we've been in really constructive discussions with for several weeks and pre-ownership. 'Naturally, we wanted to make sure that decisions we were making pre-change of ownership would have longevity after the change of ownership, so we've been in really constructive discussions. 'Both have been incredibly supportive and highly engaged throughout the process and involved in the process. 'It's very much a club decision that of course Kevin and myself have been driving it but it's actually been done in sync with Andrew and Paraag. 'Just in terms of how significant a period do I think this is for the club with the new ownership, head coach has just been appointed? I think it clearly is incredibly significant. 'That's two seismic changes, in fact three. If you look at, we've had a change of ownership followed by a sporting director coming in, followed by a head coach being announced. That's an awful lot of activity for one club in one week. 'So I think it does herald a really positive new chapter for the club. I think it is a seismic period for the club and sets a really strong foundation for the future.' The challenge now for Martin is to overhaul a Celtic side that have won 13 of the last 14 titles - the most recent by a huge 17-point margin. He only has six weeks now to get his team prepared for the start of the new season but Stewart admits the club are aiming to put up a much better fight in the season ahead. 'Look, I think Russell described it himself,' said the boardroom boss. 'It's first and foremost about taking the current squad that we've got and making it better, then also adding to the squad over the summer and it's about competing again. 'So I think we all accept that last season just past, we were way off and that's not where we want to be, that's not acceptable as a club. So it's about competing again on all fronts and that is the expectation. 'From the outset of taking on this role I've always been confident that we can close any gap that exists within Scotland and I've always been confident we can do that with or without new investment and what the new investment does allow us is to accelerate on the plans, accelerate on the strategy. 'So I've always been confident that we can do that now that we've got new ownership in who are highly engaged, highly committed. We're bringing in new management, we've got Kevin on Monday, Russell on Thursday. 'I think we're in a really, really good position so of course I'm confident and very confident about that.' Task one for Martin is to get Gers ready for their opening Champions League qualifying tie on July 22/23. He'll discover whether his first opponent is either Greeks Panathinaikos, Serviette of Switzerland or Norwegian outfit Brann when the draw is made a week on Wednesday. Get through that tie and there will still be two more eliminators to progress through before the Light Blues reach the league phase. But Stewart said: 'I think for Rangers, qualifying for the Champions League is always something we would aspire to, always. Now we've got three qualification matches to go through so that is tough for any club, we know that. 'So we're realistic about what's possible, of course with a good run the Champions League is possible, but equally we've been playing in the Europa League successfully and both competitions are strong competitions which we'd be excited to be in.'
