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The Scotsman
  • 05/06/2025
Mark Atkinson reports from Ibrox after Rangers’ unveiling of Russell Martin as head coach.

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Sports
Transcript
00:01Good afternoon from Ibrox Stadium. Mark Atkinson, Head of Sport for the Scotsman here.
00:06Just been taking in the press conference to unveil Russell Martin as Rangers' new head coach.
00:12He was speaking alongside Sporting Director Kevin Thelwell and Chief Outfit Patrick Stewart.
00:18Pretty big day here at Rangers. It's been a pretty big week.
00:21New owners after the takeover from Andrew Cavanaugh and the 49ers Consortium.
00:25Then Thelwell's arrival on Monday, swiftly followed by Russell Martin, the head coach,
00:30ending a three-month hunt for a new successor to Philippe Clermont.
00:36Patrick Stewart, the CEO, did joke that it had taken its time,
00:39but he also said that there was method in how they'd done things.
00:42They wanted to make sure they got this one absolutely spot on.
00:45There's no doubt that the new regime here at Rangers feel that Martin,
00:50a 39-year-old former Scotland and, briefly, Rangers defender,
00:53is the right person to take them on and bridge the gap with Celtic and, ultimately, bring success.
00:59Russell Martin said the job is fairly simple.
01:02You have to win at Rangers. You have to win football matches.
01:05He's confident he can produce a winning team here.
01:08He admitted that there's not that much time to get it right.
01:11He said they'll have to find a way to win while transitioning the culture of this club.
01:16But he's a head coach of a clear identity. He's done good work in the past at MK Dons, at Swansea, at Southampton,
01:24which is where he likened the challenge to Rangers, saying that there was an expectation in St Mary's to win
01:29when he got them promoted to the Premier League two campaigns ago.
01:33He's a good speaker, Martin. He held his own very well amidst a barrage of questions.
01:37There was also talk about recruitment. Of course, Rangers have got a £20 million investment, or near enough that,
01:43from their new owners coming in.
01:45And while it's expected that Rangers will be active in the transfer window,
01:48Martin stressed that every single player has a blank canvas and a chance to prove that they can fit into his style of football.
01:56There are some Rangers fans who aren't happy with the appointment of Martin.
01:59They feel that they should have got a different type of manager.
02:01Martin admitted that he is not universally popular, but said it's his job to make sure he turns those sceptics around.
02:08Stuart and Thelwell, they're convinced they've got the right person in here.
02:12There's been so many names linked with the job. Davide Ancelotti, Steven Gerrard, right at the very beginning as well.
02:19There's been a number of candidates. They were pretty adamant that the only person that was offered the job was Russell Martin.
02:27The Rangers have got a lot of work to do. They start their Champions League qualifiers in mid-July.
02:33They've got three rounds to get to the promised land of European football.
02:36It would be a top order for them, but the work does start for them.
02:39Martin knows that he's going to have to get to know his players very quickly and find a way of getting results.
02:44It's a massive challenge. He accepted that, the one that he's very much looking forward to.
02:48And he referenced his time here as a player before where it wasn't all plain sailing.
02:52He was on the end of some serious old-firm defeats while a centre-half in the 2017-2018 campaign.
02:58And he said that he always wanted to come back here and try and show a different side of himself.
03:03A new era, a new regime here at Ibrox, where Russell Martin is the new manager and the work for him starts in earnest.
03:10Perhaps.
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