Rangers speed up manager search as sporting director starts work
Russell Martin or Davide Ancelotti are understood to be the final two in contention to end a saga which began when Philippe Clement was sacked 98 days ago. Martin, the former Southampton boss, and Ancelotti, the untested son of the legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti, have both held talks with Rangers and made their sales pitch. Rangers players return to training on June 23.
Thelwell reported at the Rangers Training Centre for the first time on Monday morning after leaving his previous role as director of football at Everton. His arrival came 72 hours after the club was bought by an American consortium fronted by the healthcare tycoon and new Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh and backed by 49ers Enterprises.
Rangers also confirmed that Nils Koppen will leave his role as technical director after 18 months and he was thanked for his 'professionalism' in a statement. In the meantime Koppen will stay to work with Thelwell and help make a smooth handover to Dan Purdy, who has joined as the new technical director.
'It's a great honour to be joining Rangers, particularly at such an exciting moment in the club's history,' Thelwell said. 'While there has been significant work going on in the background prior to my arrival, that naturally accelerates from today, and top of the priority list will be the appointment of a new head coach for our men's first-team.
'That search has been progressing well, and the club and I look forward to bringing that to a conclusion in the coming days. This is a new chapter for Rangers, and while we recognise success won't come easy, our goal is clear: we need to win. My focus is on delivering that, with discipline and ambition. We'll give everything to move this club forward as quickly and sustainably as we can.'
Purdy, 31, arrived from Everton, where he was involved in the football department since 2014. He held a variety of roles across scouting and analysis, most recently as head of recruitment. Meanwhile, the Rangers chief executive Patrick Stewart will stand for election to the SPFL board on 24 June.
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The 'work-in' – occasioned because, in 1971, the Heath administration would not advance a £6million loan to keep the yards, with their full order books, ticking through a tight spot – was brilliantly framed. Not your usual strike, occupation or demo. But based on the blazing concept of the right to work, not merely the right not to be made redundant – not just the rights of one riveter, but those of an entire community. In an instant it captured the public's imagination. The likes of Matt McGinn and Billy Connolly rolled into Govan, Scotstoun and Yoker to entertain the lads. Donations poured in from the public. There was even a £5,000 cheque from John Lennon. Trounced in the court of public opinion, Heath blinked first. The government caved – and, thanks to Jimmy Airlie (the strategist) and Jimmy Reid (the rhetorician) two of the yards thrive to this day. Both men were stalwarts of the Communist Party. 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