Rangers chief Kevin Thelwell says head coach appointment due in ‘coming days’

New Rangers sporting director Kevin Thelwell has signalled a head coach will be appointed in the “coming days”.

Thelwell has officially started his role but had already been working on finding a new man to lead the first team after Barry Ferguson’s spell in interim charge ended at the close of the season.

Outgoing Real Madrid assistant manager Davide Ancelotti remains the favourite with former Swansea and Southampton boss Russell Martin also heavily linked. Steven Gerrard reportedly dropped out of the race.

Thelwell is looking to remove further uncertainty over the club’s future after a takeover by an American consortium led by Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises was confirmed on Friday.

The 51-year-old, who has left a similar role with Everton, said on the Rangers website: “It’s a great honour to be joining Rangers, particularly at such an exciting moment in the club’s history.

“While there has been significant work going on in the background prior to my arrival, that naturally accelerates from today, and top of the priority list will be the appointment of a new Head Coach for our men’s first-team.

“That search has been progressing well, and the club and I look forward to bringing that to a conclusion in the coming days.”

Rangers confirmed that Thelwell had brought Dan Purdy with him from Everton to replace Nils Koppen as technical director.

Koppen, who arrived from PSV Eindhoven in December 2023, initially as director of football recruitment, will work with Thelwell and Purdy to “support a smooth handover”.

Purdy spent 11 years at Everton working in scouting and analysis and most recently head of recruitment.

Rangers stated Purdy would lead on recruitment and scouting across the  men’s, women’s and academy programmes.

Thelwell arrives after three years at Everton. He previously worked for the Football Association of Wales and was head of the youth academies of Preston, Derby and Wolves, the first two working under former Rangers midfielder Billy Davies.

He moved to New York Red Bulls to become head of sport for two years before his switch to Everton.

“This is a new chapter for Rangers, and while we recognise success won’t come easy, our goal is clear: we need to win,” he said.

“My focus is on delivering that, with discipline and ambition. We’ll give everything to move this club forward as quickly and sustainably as we can.”