Ibrox Noise Investigates: Who appointed Kevin Thelwell for Rangers? | OneFootball

Regardless of how grumpy our last two entries may have seemed, the fact is that Andrew Cavenagh has sacked Stewart and Thelwell. While it took a bit too long and they’ve done a lot of damage, Cavenagh is at least trying to clean this mess up. He is seeking a new sporting director and a new CEO. He needs somebody in both posts who understands the gravity of Rangers and what’s required here.

Failures of Stewart and Thelwell

Patrick Stewart might have been interim at Man United, but he was a failed one at that, and he did the same at Rangers, if not worse. Thelwell was garbage at Everton and brought that to Rangers. But he wasn’t strictly, and indeed neither was Stewart, an appointment by the 49ers. There has been a bit of debate about that, and that is what we are going to look at at the moment.

Who appointed Kevin Thelwell?

The fact is, he arrived in early June, but he’d been linked for around a month. This was during the takeover months. The question really is, did they search him out, or did they simply approve him? Andrew Cavenagh has confirmed that he and the 49ers signed off on Thelwell. But what does that mean?

Approval, not selection

It means that others brought him in in the first place. And Cavenagh, knowing no better than anybody else at the time, signed off on that choice. Very much like any manager who has a sporting director choosing players for him. He “approves” of that player, even though he might not know an awful lot about that player, he is trusting the person who chose that individual. That is the same case here with Thelwell.

The Parks’ involvement

The regime that preceded the 49ers was, of course, the likes of Graeme Park, et al., and consequently, he and others sounded out Thelwell. The Parks must have had a very big finger in that choice, with the 49ers approving of it once they had taken over. So while there can never be any hard proof as to who actually approached Thelwell, and who actually appointed him, we do know that the 49ers, and Cavenagh, approved it in the end.

Looking forward, not back

This is not really helping, of course. The man is gone now. But the worrying thing would be, of course, if Cavenagh chose Thelwell. Which is unlikely to be fair, if he chose Thelwell, then who is he going to choose as his replacement? Rangers need somebody proper.

The sporting director problem

And in all fairness, the reality is, at Ibrox Noise, we are utterly against sporting directors in the first place. We want a manager, not a head coach. Hell, if Danny Rohl wants to take on that himself and become a real man and a manager, we’ll take it for now. We just do not like more fingers in the pie than is necessary. Sporting directors overcomplicate things and don’t tend to be that much value.

What really matters

So consequently, the question of who signed Thelwell doesn’t really matter that much. What does matter is the direction the club goes in now. Unfortunately, we do know that a sporting director is going to be sought by this regime, and there’s not a lot we can do about that.