Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh has denied that the recruitment process to appoint a successor to Russell Martin was “shambolic” but admits it looks messy from outside the club.
Cavenagh has also defended chief executive Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell from criticism, saying they have his backing, and promised funds to strengthen the current squad in January.
The American businessman, who completed an Ibrox takeover alongside Paraag Marathe and 49ers Enterprises early in the summer, was speaking to STV after the appointment of Daniel Rohl as the club’s new head coach.
Rohl was named as the man to turn the team around after Martin’s disastrous reign but only after a fairly lengthy process that saw several names in the frame.
Former Rangers boss Steven Gerrard was first to be close to the hotseat, having advanced talks and appearing set for an announcement before it was revealed he had walked away and that the timing wasn’t right.
Rohl was then in the spotlight as leading contender but he withdrew from the process only for Kevin Muscat to close in on a move to Ibrox. That move collapsed with Rangers saying there were issues over his exit date from Shanghai Port.
The move for Rohl then came back to the forefront and concluded with the German signing a two-and-a-half year deal.
When it was put to Cavenagh that the process appeared shambolic, with the club lurching from one preferred candidate to another, and with three people withdrawing from the process at different times, he said the full picture wasn’t evident to those on the outside.
“I do refute that [it was a shambles],” he told STV. “But I don’t refute that it would have looked like that from the outside.
“When you’re running a search process from the club’s perspective, we have to be incredibly confidential with everything that we are doing, and keep our cards very close to our chests.
“So what our supporters were able to see was a small fraction of what was actually happening. We were very happy with the recruitment process that led to Daniel Rohl being our head coach and we actually pursued five different candidates at the same time.
“Three of those names have been mentioned and there are two that you’ve never heard about. I just highlight that to show that people don’t hear everything.”
When Premiership-winning former Rangers boss Gerrard pulled out of the running, there was widespread speculation that there was an issue with the Englishman wanting to be a traditional manager rather than a head coach who has all recruitment done above him in the structure that is headed by sporting director Thelwell. Cavenagh wouldn’t go into details but insisted that wasn’t the case.
“What I would say is that every conversation I had with Steven has to remain confidential,” he said.
“We’ve said the timing of the appointment just didn’t work for him but I do not believe that the recruitment process was the thing that kept him from coming to Rangers.”
Thelwell’s recruitment, and the day-to-day stewardship of chief executive Stewart have seen both targeted by fans who demand their sacking. Both said on Tuesday they had never considered resigning, and while Cavenagh pointed to “mistakes” he was behind both.
“They have my full backing,” he said. “They have made mistakes, as have Paraag and I, and I think we have admitted to that.
“If you make a mistake then the most important thing after owning it is to rectify it. Everyone in this organisation is accountable and we all need to perform.”
After a nightmare start to his time as an owner, Cavenagh is now hoping the appointment of Rohl is a turning point. And having spent net £20m in the summer window, he is fully prepared to keep investing in the squad and backing the head coach with players he needs to be a success.
“We didn’t believe coming out of the summer window that the squad was complete,” the chairman said. “We never expected to get everything in one window. So we go into this window knowing that there is work to be done.
“There’s probably some in the summer window and the club needs a little bit more steel and probably a little more experience. We’re also a little bit heavy on loan players and obviously there’s not a lot of depth at left back.
“So we went into this knowing that there’s work to be done We will sit with Danny and sit with Kevin [Thelwell] between now and then and if there are players that we think can make a difference, then we will invest to bring players in.”
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