Sports
Winger reveals “one conversation” that made him reject Thelwell and Rangers
A matter of days after Kevin Thelwell was relieved of his duties as Rangers‘ sporting director, a former Premier League winger has revealed exactly why he rejected a move to Ibrox.
Cavenagh reveals reasoning behind Thelwell’s Rangers exit
Thelwell’s exit looked on the cards as soon as he appointed Russell Martin. The sporting director instantly failed to win the fans over after a disastrous summer of decisions and has now paid the price alongside chief executive Patrick Stewart.
Revealing the news, chairman Andrew Cavenagh said: “Paraag and I have analysed the club’s needs, and as we reflect on what the club needs today, and where Kevin and Patrick are, we think we need something different.
“Our focus the first part of this season, the first part of our ownership period, has been on the sporting side and that’s where all of our attention went to for obvious reasons.
“With Danny coming in, he has started to improve the on-pitch performance, and that has created the space to allow Paraag and I to look at other parts of the club with new eyes and assess what we need going forward.”
Rangers dud is rivalling Chermiti for being one of Thelwell’s worst signings
This Glasgow Rangers flop has been as bad of a signing as Youssef Chermiti was by Kevin Thelwell.
It’s a major decision from the 49ers, who have seen Rangers get back on track on the pitch since Danny Rohl‘s arrival. The German has won all four of his Scottish Premiership games, but his side still sit nine points behind shock leaders Hearts to highlight the damage done by Martin’s time at the club.
Thelwell’s downfall can be pinpointed to his decision to hire Martin, but also his transfer decisions, including times when he missed out on top targets like Carlos Forbs.
Carlos Forbs reveals “one conversation” before Rangers rejection
Speaking to Belgian newspaper Het Belang van Limburg, Forbs revealed why he rejected Rangers and Thelwell in favour of a move to Club Brugge in the summer.
“Along with six other teammates, I was no longer allowed in the dressing room. We were given a space about the size of this room here [points around].
“After my second training session, I looked at my phone and saw that I had one missed call after another, from my agent and from Dévy Rigaux. That’s when I knew a club had been found. Rangers and Lyon also showed interest, but one conversation with Dévy and I was convinced.”
The former Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee had quite the decision to make in the summer and Thelwell just couldn’t lure him to Rangers in what was a sign of things to come.
Since then, the now-former sporting director failed to get deals over the line to hire the likes of Steven Gerrard, before finally turning to Rohl. From appointing Martin, to missing out on Forbs and then Gerrard, the clock was always ticking on Thelwell’s time in Scotland.
