Rangers chief confident Russell Martin will win over sceptical supporters
After Kevin Thelwell was officially installed as sporting director on Monday, the 39-year-old former Southampton boss, who had a loan spell as a player at Rangers in 2018, was confirmed in the Ibrox hot seat on Friday morning.
However, Martin's arrival has not been met with universal approval by Gers supporters.
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— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) June 5, 2025
Stewart revealed Martin was the only person offered the job and believes the Ibrox club have taken a diligent approach to finding a successor to Philippe Clement, who left in February before former captain Barry Ferguson took over until the end of the season.
'Firstly, we're always very sensitive and aware of supporters' sentiment on any issue,' said Stewart.
'And, yeah, I'm aware that supporters have strong views on who the right person for the role is.
'So we'll always factor that in to a degree, but equally, I've been talking a lot about process and making sure we've got people and experts in that are qualified to make decisions.
'So we've really put our trust in our process, making sure we've got right people in to make decisions and with a lot of discipline.
'We're not oblivious to the noise at all, not at all.
'But I think, because we conducted such a thorough process to take us to this point where we've appointed Russell, we're confident the supporters will get behind him, particularly when they see him in action.'
Stewart believes the appointment of former MK Dons and Swansea boss Martin, which followed last Friday's takeover by an American consortium led by Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises, signalled a 'seismic' change at the Ibrox club.
Stewart said: 'It clearly is incredibly significant.
'That's two seismic changes. In fact, three, if you look we've had a change of ownership, followed by our 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.
'It is a seismic period for the club and sets a really strong foundation for the future.'
After a trophyless season for Rangers, Stewart outlined his expectations for Martin.
He said: '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.
'I think we all accept that last season just passed, 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.'
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