Russell Martin has defended Rangers' decision to employ Kevin Thelwell's son as head of recruitment.
As revealed by The Herald, the Ibrox sporting director is set to appoint his son Robbie as the club's new recruitment chief, an appointment which is raising eyebrows.
Thelwell Jr has been head of technical scouting and loan management at Norwich City since July 2024 and was previously first-team scout at Aston Villa.
It is claimed he had been attracting interest from English Premier League sides but he is set to take on the role at Rangers as part of a restructuring behind the scenes.
Martin has been quizzed on the move and gave it his backing.
He said: “Like with the squad, the club needs changed. It needs to move forward and it needs to be done in a certain way.
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“Not everyone will like certain things and how they are. But the club has to have some way to move forward and that’s about getting really good people in who have done a really good job elsewhere. And I really trust that Kevin, Dan, Patrick and the owners wouldn’t let anyone in the building unless they thought they thought they were really good.
“So I am really happy with the appointments we’re making like I’m really happy with the changes we’ve made inside the club. And I think we’re moving forward."
After confirming he was not part of the hiring process, Martin was asked if he can see why it would raise eyebrows
He added: “The person most aware of that- having had chats with him - would be Kevin.
“I don’t think he would ever put himself in that position if he and Dan didn’t think his son was very good. I worked at Norwich for a very long time and there are a lot of people who are still there who think he’s very, very good. If he’s got the same values and clarity as his old man then he’ll be in good hands."
