Rangers ‘expect success' under Russell Martin, says chief executive
The Govan club were taken over by an American consortium led by Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises last Friday before new sporting director Kevin Thelwell officially joined from Everton on Monday.
Another key appointment for Gers was made on Friday when 39-year-old former Southampton boss Martin, who had a short loan spell as a player in Govan in 2018, was confirmed as manager.
The appointment has not found universal favour among supporters but Stewart believes Martin fits the bill perfectly – albeit the former Scotland defender has to demonstrate that to his new bosses.
Stewart, who started work in his role last December, said: 'Russell's appointment is the culmination of a series of steps we've been working on over the past few months since I joined Rangers.
'We started with the football review, which I spoke to the media about in January. This led to several insights and recommendations, including the need to modernise our operations and develop a clear footballing identity.
'Then the next step was to appoint a sporting director and Kevin, of course, was appointed in April and came into the building just this week.
'We also have been developing a clear football style and identity and that's work that's been going on behind the scenes. It's been led by Kevin and it's involved football people.
'We've now culminated in appointing Russell and in Russell we've got a head coach who aligns to the footballing style and identity that we've been developing.
'In addition to wanting a head coach who's going to excel in terms of the style that we're looking to play as a club, we also were looking for a head coach that's going to improve our culture, develop our squad and ultimately win matches. And Russell's been a standout candidate.
'This appointment is about building a winning team and a strong culture.
'Now, Russell's no stranger to our club, as you know, he's been a player here previously and we expect success and Russell knows that. We're really, really excited for his leadership and for him to get started.'
Martin will be joined at Ibrox by assistant head coach Matt Gill and performance coach Rhys Owen.
A new share issue at the club's general meeting on June 23 will raise £20million, the bulk of which will be going to the football department.
Thelwell insisted that Martin will be involved in any new recruits.
He said: 'When we talk about recruitment, clearly it's going to be a collaborative approach.
'I've never been in this role ever where I've signed a player for the first team that hasn't been supported by the head coach or the manager. So we'll talk a lot about how we want to play.
'We'll talk a lot about what profiles we think we need and what positions we think we need.
'And then between Russell and I, and the recruitment team, we'll sit down and identify players that we think can make us better very quickly. And then between us, we'll decide about what we do next.
'That's generally how I've worked and generally how we've discussed how it's going to work. And for me, that's probably been a good way of working so that we've got some clarity.'
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