Thelwell responds to Rangers recruitment and Chermiti flak

Amid the Ibrox club's horrendous start to the season, serious questions around their recruitment have been central to the narrative after a high-spending summer window.

The product on the pitch has, so far, not been reflective of the money spent after just one win from eight Premiership matches.

The biggest outlay of all was the signing of striker Chermiti in a deal worth £10 million from Everton. Thelwell had also been involved in recruiting the 21-year-old to Goodison Park in his previous role there and that is another reason questions are being raised.

The sporting director was present at this afternoon's press conference introducing Danny Rohl as the club's new head coach, and criticism around the recruitment was put to him.

"Yeah, I think it's a fair question," he admitted. "And I think if I look at the first eight games in particular, it's very, very difficult to say otherwise.

"Having said all that, we think that the group is a good group. We think they're capable of much, much more and we hope through the appointment of Danny, we've got the opportunity to show their qualities in a much stronger way. I think we've recruited a very strong group who are very capable and I'm hoping that over the course of the next group of games, you're able to see the likes of Thelo Aasgaard and other players that we signed in the summer, reach their full potential and show that not only to you guys, but also to the fans."

Asked if he stands by the signing of Chermiti, he went on: "Yeah, very much so. I think Youssef Chermiti is a player in particular who's got huge potential. I've never doubted him in any way, shape or form. Again, I think Danny will help to get the best out of Youssef.

"Very early days for him, he's a young talent. And of course with young talents, they sometimes take a little bit of time, but I'm certain over the course of his career here, he's going to prove that he's a very, very good player."

Attention turned to how recruitment will work with Rohl now in the building, with the same title as his predecessor, head coach.

Thelwell insists the pair will work collaboratively on looking at players to target and how they fit in to the plan, and no signing will ever be made without Rohl's approval.

He explained: "Yeah, so the process that we've got is not a process that is new to any football club. Head coach and sporting director working very, very closely to talk about how we want to play, what we want from each position, and then us conducting search to find players that best suit not only Rangers Football Club but also the style in which the new head coach wants to work.

"I've said this before and I'll say it again, I've never signed a player that the head coach doesn't want. So this is very much us working together to identify the right talent, the right people, the right players that are going to help us to win not only today, but also help us to win tomorrow.

"Danny and I have had many conversations over the course of the last couple of weeks around recruitment and players and style of play and identity and all of these things and winning and how do we create this winning team. And I'm very much looking forward to him working with him on this recruitment space."

Rohl added: "I think it's very important that you're close and you work together in this direction because it makes no sense when one part goes in this direction, other part goes in this direction.

"I think this is very crucial and when you are very clear on which way you want to go, then it's much, much easier to find the right players for the football club and for the style of we want to play.

"I learned in the last 16 years a lot about recruitment as well. If you can really bring all the power in one direction, then you can convince really good players to come here. And this is fantastic."