As promised, Ibrox Noise has a piece inspired by one of our own staff, who has discussed this topic many times. Good old Tom knows only too well the importance of the recruitment system. He also knows how poor Rangers have been for far too long. Unfortunately, it appears to be continuing in the same way this summer. Rangers recruitment is failing.
Rangers’ recruitment toxins
Put simply, the two biggest toxins at Rangers recently were former CEO Patrick Stewart and, of course, Kevin Thelwell. Thelwell signed a bunch of absolute, expensive rubbish and wasted so much of Rangers’ cash. Russell Martin was also a huge toxin who contributed towards that.
Dan Purdy is another huge component of this. Ibrox Noise was pretty clear about Purdy’s influence last summer. It was not just Thelwell. It was, of course, Purdy, his own former colleague at Everton. He had a massive influence over Rangers’ recruitment and still does. Just like Thelwell junior Robbie.
Dan Purdy has been present for just about everything involving recruitment, more or less, since June 2025. The slop we signed in January might come under Danny Rohl’s remit, but it is still Dan Purdy’s job. Alongside Thelwell.
The recruitment staff raise concerns
If we look at the new staff brought in above Derek McInnes, we cannot exactly say they fill us with glee. Mick Priest and Simon Ireland from Barrow Town do not convince us that we have the right men in place. We can’t quite fathom the logic behind David Hopkin either.
We do have some of them. We are happy with a few people on board, to say the least. That includes, of course, McInnes himself and some of the management staff like Allan McGregor. And Gillespie and Thornton on the board are our people. However, a lot of the football recruitment staff leave much to be desired.
When we look at Olwethu Makhanya’s numbers from Philadelphia Union, for example, they are absolutely appalling. We pointed this out with the statistics. His numbers for just about every defensive attribute were so far down the MLS scale that it was not even funny.
You then add around 14 yellow cards and four red cards. His disciplinary record clearly leaves a lot to be desired. If this is the kind of recruitment we are pursuing, we are in exactly the same boat as always. Nothing much has changed.
Rangers ignored Luke Graham
There is also a huge question surrounding Luke Graham. Yes, it was preseason. Yes, it was technically not exactly rock and roll yet or major competitive action. However, Graham looked solid against Everton, a Premier League side.
This was a £2M signing for Stoke that Ibrox Noise and just about every other fan wanted Rangers to make. We left it, did not bother with it and now have just one lefty in Emmanuel Fernandez. Once again, he looked all at sea against United.
We did not bother with the former Dundee defender. This is what we simply do not understand. Why do we keep getting the wrong players and targeting slop that is absolutely no use to Rangers?
Recruitment is still not working
At the end of the day, our Tom is not wrong. Recruitment is still not working. We are still bringing in players who do not seem to grasp the intensity and demands of Rangers.
Cammy Devlin did grasp them. However, when push came to shove on the pitch, his performance did not live up to his lip service.
At the end of the day, this is what we have right now. McInnes does not sound terribly thrilled with it at this present moment. We will need better and we will need it soon otherwise Rangers recruitment fails.