Thelwell and Stewart slammed over failed Rangers agreements already
Rangers’ season will officially get underway on Tuesday (July 22) when they welcome Panathinaikos to Ibrox.
Russell Martin’s first competitive task in charge of the Gers will be to win the opening leg of their Champions League qualifier against the Greek side, ahead of the second leg on July 30.
Should the Englishman’s side emerge victorious, they will be drawn against a further side with matches taking place in August.
And the Scottish Premiership will get underway on August 2, with Rangers travelling to Motherwell for the league opener.
Keown questions pre-season schedule
Hopes among Rangers fans appear to be low ahead of the visit of Panathinaikos.
New signings Thelo Aasgaard and Djeidi Gassama will not be ready to start the opening leg, with the chances of the former’s participation described by Martin as “touch and go” after picking up a knock.
The delay to the signing of Gassama has meant the winger is not yet fit enough to go from the start, but he will be a part of the squad.
Cyriel Dessers and Hamza Igamane are unlikely to be fit enough to start the match either, with the two facing disrupted pre-seasons amid serious interest from AEK Athens and Lille, respectively.
| Danilo | Scottish Premiership |
| Appearances | 19 |
| Goals | 5 |
| Assists | 4 |
That will likely see Brazilian striker Danilo given the nod up front, but the 26-year-old scored just seven goals for Rangers last season and was not seen among the club’s starting options.
Writing for the Scottish Daily Mail (page 77, July 20), Gary Keown has criticised sporting director Kevin Thelwell and CEO Patrick Stewart for their planning of pre-season.
The columnist wrote: “Couldn’t they have employed a bit of forward thinking and set up more than just one Ibrox friendly against Club Brugge?
“They’ve always known the dates of these Champions League qualifiers. It just feels more could have been put in the diary than that visit of the Belgians and then some training-ground bounce games against Barnsley and lower-league Scottish opposition before a visit of Middlesbrough to Govan next Saturday.”
Martin will face first serious test
Martin will have hoped for an easier start to his time at Rangers, but the Englishman will be forced to prove his ability from the get-go against Panathinaikos.
The Greek club will be a difficult test for his Rangers team, who could be described as makeshift in the attacking areas.
But Martin will hope his welcome to Ibrox welcome can encourage an intense atmosphere, that, when at its fiery best, can prove difficult for any visiting team to deal with.
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