Credit: Manh Tung/Breaking Media

Rahul Lakhani

Thu 2 October 2025 7:10, UK

Rangers fans’ anger has increased after a new development regarding the club hierarchy.

Sporting director Kevin Thelwell has already come under a lot of scrutiny regarding the signings he has made, as well as his part in the appointment of Russell Martin.

Rangers have had a woeful start to the season, with protests directed at Patrick Stewart and Martin, but Thelwell has also come under fire.

Now, fans are furious as a much-needed backroom shake-up has seen Thelwell hire his son, Robbie Thelwell, as a new head of recruitment, with many accusing the club of favouring nepotism under the director.

Robbie Thelwell to join Rangers from Norwich

Robbie Thelwell will now follow his father to Ibrox, having previously worked with him at Wolves.

It is a bad look for Rangers given their current predicament, and Thelwell’s desire to bring in players from his old clubs, such as Youssef Chermiti, has been scrutinised.

• Thelwell has recruited players and staff from the clubs he has worked at in England.
• Chermiti joined for a record fee despite failing to score a single goal for Everton.
• Everton scout Nathan Fisher is set to join.

Thelwell’s son worked with the Rangers director at Wolves before joining Aston Villa and later Norwich City.

Many will question the 26-year-old’s lack of experience and knowledge of the Scottish market, but there is perhaps a method behind the madness of his appointment.

• Read more: ‘What I saw Rangers fans do in person was mental, it’s never been seen before’

Robbie Thelwell played influential role at Norwich

Thelwell has now left Norwich to join Rangers, but his work with the Canaries may be encouraging with regard to his appointment.

He worked directly with Norwich director Ben Knapper, formerly of Arsenal, as they recruited 12 new players in the summer, and as reported by EDP24, Thelwell played a huge part in the scouting process.

The signings Knapper and Thelwell made showed that they had a wide scouting network, from marquee arrivals from Norway to youngsters within Premier League academies.

A big criticism of Rangers’ recruitment under Thelwell is that a lot of players joined from the English lower leagues, with some of them coming with price tags beyond their value.

Thelwell’s son could bring a wider knowledge of undervalued players from other leagues outside of England, and the age range of the signings, from young to more experienced, shows that they are not single-minded in their recruitment.

This appointment will be met with heavy criticism given the optics, but Thelwell’s son could prove to be an upgrade on the Rangers director as head of recruitment, although it remains to be seen how much influence he will have on transfer decisions.

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