Rangers head coach Danny Rohl keen to look forward after sacking of Kevin Thelwell and Patrick Stewart

Rangers head coach Danny Rohl says it was “not nice” to see Patrick Stewart and Kevin Thelwell leave Ibrox, but he wants to look to the future with optimism after big changes behind the scenes.

The club announced on Monday that chief executive Stewart and sporting director Thelwell had been sacked with immediate effect.

Chairman Andrew Cavenagh said they were no longer the right people to take the club forward.

Stewart had been at Ibrox since last November and was in charge of the sacking of Philippe Clement, the appointment and dismissal of Russell Martin, and the recruitment of Rohl.

Thelwell, brought to Glasgow in April just before the American takeover, led the overhaul of the playing squad and a net spend of £20m in players.

Rohl spoke positively about both men but was keen to take a forward focus as he prepares his side for the visit of Braga in the Europa League and a busy spell before the January transfer window opens.

“I think it’s not nice when some people around you get sacked,” the head coach said. “I had a good relationship with Kevin; we were always in daily business, and we spoke to each other, with Patrick as well.

“They were also involved in the process when I arrived here.

“I got a call from Andrew (Cavenagh), who gave me this message. Then we had a meeting, a dinner together, one day later, and spoke about the situation, the process, and now it’s about looking forward to the future.

“This is football, what sometimes happens. For me, it’s now about focusing on the next games and the next processes.”

Fraser Thornton, a director at the club, has been put in place as acting CEO, and Rohl says that conversations with him, as well as the owners, mean that plans for January recruitment won’t be affected as the club continues a search for replacements in the key roles.

“I think I’m close to Andrew, we are in contact every day, we speak to each other,” he said. “But there are also good people around who support me.

“I think this is crucial. I cannot do this alone or can’t make decisions alone. I think it’s important to understand that we have a good structure in the club.

“Of course, it has changed now, but we have an interim CEO, Fraser, who is very experienced. He will help me. We have some guys from the board, from the 49ers around me, and we also have a recruitment department.

“We all have to go together in one direction. We want to work on this, we know we have to do something, and let’s see what we can do.”

Rohl said he was “the wrong person to ask” about the reasons for Thelwell and Stewart’s departure, and wouldn’t be drawn on his opinion of the summer recruitment, but he said it was “no secret” that the squad has to improve.

He said the January window was “special” and often difficult.

“I give my information to the board, to the club, what I think, how I see the situation, how I see the squad at the minute, which parts we have to improve,” he explained. “I think there’s no secret we know that we have to improve all of our players here. I think this is crucial to understand.

“We have some very exciting players, and we know we want to bring them back to the highest level.

“This is all a big job, and it’s my job to do this with my coaching team. Then, of course, we probably also have to look in the future, to the next window, what we can bring, what we can edit.

“But it’s still a very real process.”

The head coach has the immediate task of trying to rescue the club’s European campaign when Braga visit Ibrox on Thursday night. He sees the Portuguese outfit as an “aggressive, well-organised” side who will travel with confidence, but hopes it is an opportunity for his own side to take “a step forward”.

The German admitted he would like to have more time on the training ground to develop his side and get ideas across, but said that the busy schedule of upcoming games was also an opportunity for him to see more of his squad in action and judge what they can deliver.

“Every game is an opportunity for players,” Rohl said. “I had some conversations during the week with some players who didn’t get an opportunity.

“I think that is also important, when I look to the schedule with Thursday, Sunday, next week again, and again. So game by game, there are opportunities.

“I think now we can do quite a lot to rotate in some positions you have to, and that means there are opportunities there, and it is up to the players to use those opportunities.

“You cannot just ask for opportunities and never use them, I think that is also important to understand, but after the training today I am very positive, the players are very focused on this.

“The players do not expect to play as a starter from home, but I think a good example was on the weekend, our players from the bench helped us to win the game, and it is also important that we see us always as a group and not just as a single person.”