The Barry Ferguson policy that Kevin Thelwell might have told Rangers boss to introduce as incoming sporting director

24/04/2025 02:00

There is an eerie silence around Rangers just now with a vacuum of information being filled by speculation and rumour.

The shares needed by the San Francisco 49ers are secured with the timeline for the takeover of Rangers still on track for the end of May.

Patrick Stewart had said he wanted a sporting director in place before a new Rangers manager and he has kept his word by appointing Kevin Thelwell.

Nils Koppen has been doing a lot of the work by himself so, having someone with elite level experience will be a huge boost to the stability of Rangers.

With his contract at Everton expiring in a matter of weeks, there have been hints that Thewell has already had an influence on Rangers.

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Rangers formation change could have Kevin Thelwell influence

One of the first things that Barry Ferguson did as interim boss was change formation.

Not only this, but he has stuck to it pretty religiously, despite form not being particularly impressive.

What a sporting director might be responsible for is introducing a system and style of play throughout the Rangers academy and into the first team.

The system that Ferguson introduced, a flexible 3-5-2, is one that Thelwell has written coaching manuals about.

There is every chance that the current Everton sporting director had already agreed to move to Ibrox and wanted to assess the current Rangers squad in what could be the system that they adopt next season.

What has Patrick Stewart said about Thelwell appointment

Speaking before Thelwell was appointed, Stewart explained the need for the appointment of a sporting director and why the role was so important:

"Sporting director is responsible for the entire football operations; men's, women, academy, medical and performance, recruitment, the whole gamut.

"Nils as technical director is responsible for squad planning. So making sure that our first team squads for men's and women's teams are in the right place.

"And that means that he's looking at player recruitment, particular focus on player recruitment, from all the age groups through, making sure we've got a good pipeline coming in from the academy into the first team, but also where we don't have that pipeline we're recruiting externally.

"But critically also making sure that we're selling players at the right time because that's critical to the player trading model.

"So he's very much focused on part of the football operations whereas a sporting director has got the whole gamut and is very much focused on the football strategy and it's wider context."