admin49ers have two ways to reach Rangers success as grapevine murmurs send hint on how owners aim to restore glory
Rangers have had a tough start to the season under new head coach Russell Martin.
A man in the know at Rangers thought the 49ers would splash the cash this summer – but now can see two ways to restoring former glories.
Kevin Thomson was at Ibrox as a player between 2007-10 when the club won five trophies, including two titles. He’s been back since hanging up his boots as a coach and is now on the inside as part of the Rangers TV team on commentary duties during matchdays at Ibrox. He has witnessed first-hand a tough start to the season under head coach Russell Martin.
49ers Enterprises joined forces with Andrew Cavenagh to take charge of the club in the summer and embarked on a major recruitment spree, including an £8m deal rising to £10m for striker Youssef Chermiti. Thomson admits he heard that there wouldn’t be the summer riches he thought would be available to Rangers through this new ownership, and now two ways to former glories stand before 49ers Enterprises and co.
How much will 49ers spend at Rangers?
He said: “I thought they would splash the cash but then you heard on the grapevine that there wasn’t as much money, although they still spent a fair bit. I think they’ll either try to buy their way to success quickly or it will be a slower process.
“Right now, we don’t know what their process is going to look like. Russell has been well backed, I don’t think he could sit there and say he hasn’t been. Some other Rangers managers in the past, whether it’s Clement or Gio they didn’t have the same backing.
“But I don’t think Russell could say they’ve not backed him to put a good team on the pitch. The problem is that although it’s early, he had pre-season and fans want to see results now. There’s been a big turnover of players, he got rid of people he didn’t want and replaced them.
Rangers recruitment assessed
“Look at Motherwell, who play brilliant football, and look at Hearts who have recruited really well. So you can look at other teams who have less budget than you and are doing well. Rangers fans are seeing this and asking why that’s not the case at Ibrox when they’ve spent more than other clubs.
Thomson also says the character of the recruited players needs to be right. He added: “I don’t think it matters where you come from, it’s whether you can handle the heat. It’s the one thing you can’t tell from recruitment. I wasn’t the same person leaving Rangers at 25 or 26 as I was when I first signed there. We’d had a young, vibrant group at Hibs and I really believed in myself, but then you bump into Barry Ferguson who was relentless.
“He’d look at you as if to say ‘why is he on the same pitch as me’ and you either shrunk or you stood up and got better. We had Sandy Jardine, John Greig around the club, Walter Smith, Ally McCoist, Ian Durrant and Jimmy Bell in the dressing-room. So you’re looking around thinking ‘wow’ but you also have to rise to the occasion.
But if you don’t have that mentality in the changing room it’s very difficult. Loads of big hitters have come into the environment up here and struggled. That’s the one bit you can’t recruit – can you handle the heat and the pressure? You can’t sign players who just want to come up here and stroll around.”
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