01 Jul 2026 08:31:48
Allan McGregor rejoins as Goalkeeper Coach.
Agree2
Disagree0
01 Jul 2026 09:25:33
I just saw this. I've seen a few very positive comments regarding McGregor's appointment. I'm not quite getting it - other than he played for us and filled in as coach under BF. Why is this looked upon to be a great move, other than he knows the club, etc. etc.? Does he have any serious coaching experience - genuine question.
01 Jul 2026 10:02:24
Broste, he has acted as coach despite not having any coaching qualifications, which does seem to be unusual. But he has over 750 appearances and has been coached by elite level coaches such as Allan Hodgkinson, Jim Stewart and Gary Walsh. So he will have learned from them.
Personally, I think he brings that winning mentality we are looking for and his demands of team mates when he played can't hurt with the current team.
Any GK we bring will have heard of him, and he will demand the same level of effort as he put in.
So his level of experience imo balances out this lack of coaching experience and qualifications.
01 Jul 2026 10:23:35
Spot on Angus, no arguments from me here, mate. 👀
01 Jul 2026 10:36:08
Yep, get his experience etc., but a modern keeper he was not. I'd also add a good player does not always mean a good coach / manager etc. Time will tell. Just hope we're not running a job for boys' club and it's based on merit and right profile for the job.
01 Jul 2026 11:18:50
Broste, it stinks of jobs for boys, but for some reason playing for Rangers is all that matters & nothing to do with coaching ability. Butland didn't improve under him & Barry. We played worse under them.
30 Jun 2026 14:17:36
If we get 13m for Aasgaard, 25m for Manny, and big money for Chermiti big Kev Thelwell will be sitting with his cigar out bold as brass😂
Guy couldn't build a squad to save himself but he knew how to find a player to flip for big profit il give him that.
Agree3
Disagree0
30 Jun 2026 14:33:35
Agreed, Wishy. It would be some turnaround.
30 Jun 2026 15:44:12
If we get £13m for Aasgaard or the other big fees rumoured, I'll buy everyone on here a pint.
30 Jun 2026 15:59:56
I would suggest he was building a squad but it just couldn't happen in 1 season. How many of the players we bought last season are now attracting interest. We want to, and probably will, just take the quick profit and replace them with players who will win us the league.
That is, despite the evidence of the last 15 years or so, showing that it is much more difficult to do than building the afore-mentioned squad over a few seasons.
30 Jun 2026 16:10:43
Can we bring Thelwell back?
Now we have a decent manager, I think Thelwell could do a great job.
30 Jun 2026 16:16:12
I'll go one better, Kaiser, if we get 13m for Aasgaard, I'll give everyone on here 13m each. I'll have to tap John27 right enough, sure he'll be ok with it.
30 Jun 2026 18:12:15
Sorry, Angus, his squad building was terrible. Left us with one loanee left back. You can argue all night with me, the guy might have been able to spot a player, but he did not know how to build a squad capable of challenging.
30 Jun 2026 19:06:31
Wishy, did you miss the bit about building a squad over more than 1 window. Also, Martin had a big say as well, which may be why we had Aarons as LB cover; and we had Cornelius as well.
So, building a squad which no-one ever gets the time to do because we keep changing everyone.
30 Jun 2026 19:45:06
He was a disastrous appointment. No need to rewrite history to suit the patience narrative. Thankfully the club rectified the situation and we can look forward with some positivity instead.
30 Jun 2026 19:51:13
Rohl ran the 1st chance he could.
30 Jun 2026 20:07:21
Angus, sorry mate, but you don't go into a season with one loanee youth left back that's called poor squad building.
Fair enough if we had to improve on players over the course of 3/4 windows that's different, but to leave yourself so short in such a key error is horrendous planning.
So no, I didn't miss it, I just think your point was nonsense.
30 Jun 2026 20:31:06
Or got a better offer that suited his own personal ambitions and circumstances, Storm?
30 Jun 2026 20:37:40
He had Cornelius who was back up though. And we had Aarons who could play there and did in fact. So the club obviously thought they had the position covered.
And rewriting history. Big offers supposedly around for Chermiti, Aasgaard and Fernandez; clubs looking at Gassama (Antman?). So 3 out of 7 actual transfers are already a success; just above the average success rate on signings.
We also got our money back on Rothwell. Used loan market too much but there might have been reasons for that. So he was obviously not right as he was booted without any fuss from him but let's not try to say everything he did transfer wise was poor.
30 Jun 2026 20:53:13
Angus, Cornelius was a CB and Aarons was a RB. It doesn't matter if he had them, you're proving my point even more. His idea to go into a crucial season was to leave us with a youth loanee lb, cb and rb as our left back options.
He should not have sold 3 LBs.
It was poor squad building. Why are you arguing for arguing sake?
I can be fair and admit he definitely knew how to spot a player, but he left the squad in a really bad place by the time he left. Rohl and Stig improved things a lot.
30 Jun 2026 21:51:16
Wishy, he isn't arguing with you, he just has a different opinion, it's called debating, not arguing. The 3 Stig Rohl brought in.
Olsen, failure.
Rommens, looks good.
Chukwuani, unsure. Don't think they improved things a lot. 3 finished 3rd, remember.
30 Jun 2026 22:33:42
Correct BB4. It seems that some on here just aren't willing to accept a different opinion on anything.
It doesn't matter whether or not we think that having Cornelius or Aarons as back up was the greatest idea. I would suggest that was the plan, especially as both were played in that position. So the facts support it, not just my opinion. In fact, they were played there without the young loanee left back being injured. 🤷 So, going by what facts are available, I think my suggestion is perfectly possible.
Earlier this season lots of posters were saying that Martin made the choice not to buy players and also to get rid of players. Remember, he tried to sell Raskin until it was hit on the head. So yes, Thelwell may have carried out the instructions, but was he the person who made the decision? No-one knows. I am giving my opinion.
Btw, you do know it takes 2 to have an argument. So if you don't want my response then don't argue back.
30 Jun 2026 22:42:45
Angus, I do accept your opinions, but it's a fact that Cornelius and Aarons are left backs, that's what I was asking, why you are "debating" it. I'm not asking you to stop replying.
I always enjoy a verbal sparring with yourself, Angus. My comment wasn't that deep, sorry if you took offence.
Bb4, Angus is a big boy, doesn't need you to jump in for him. 🤣
30 Jun 2026 22:45:25
Angus, your second paragraph proves my point. If they thought it was a good idea to have a centre back and a right back as our left back options alongside a youth loanee then it is poor squad building. It's either they thought it was a good idea = bad squad building or they didn't plan for it and panicked = poor squad building.
30 Jun 2026 23:01:59
Mph, that's basically what I said, and it was his 1st opportunity he was off.
30 Jun 2026 23:07:50
Wishy, While being left with just one pure left-back wasn't ideal, it is what it is. I am not taking about 'they'; this was about Thelwell and what I can see as fact about who played at LB. I know those "in the know" have blamed Martin for the player sales, so perhaps this wasn't on Thelwell at all.
Whether it was a collective decision or not, Thelwell's recruitment record is decent: 3 out of 7 signings will be successful, which is slightly above average. Add in the fact that we didn't lose money on Rothwell, and it's arguably 4 out of 7. I still maintain he has been successful overall in buying and selling.
I always respond to arguments against my points; it's just polite! BB4 likely pointed this out because we've debated it before, and I appreciate him doing so.
For me, the forum is all about these kinds of healthy debates. Endless transfer saga threads (like the will-they-won't-they sign debates) bore me, which is why I always latch onto these tactical and recruitment discussions.
Squad building is a long-term process, not an overnight fix in one window. Failing to fill every gap in a single transfer window is normal given player availability and budget constraints. While you can criticise how well he assembled the initial starting lineup last season, that was just team building, and I wouldn't argue against that especially for LB position. But I would argue that he laid the foundation for a squad.
01 Jul 2026 03:48:32
Wishy, I didn't take offence whatsoever mate, no need to apologise. You both just have different opinions on the situation, didn't think it was argumentative at all, just healthy debate. Wishy, I know Angus could disagree that the skie is blue, but to be totally honest he talks a lot of sense (at times), has a totally different viewpoint than most, which I really enjoy (sometimes), gets me thinking about things differently, which is good.
👍
01 Jul 2026 05:42:48
Bb, I am just used to winning debates and Angus pushes you to the limits. He's a hard nut to crack. 🤣
01 Jul 2026 06:22:47
You can't just ignore loan deals to make his recruitment appear better, so it wasn't just 7 transfers. We paid a fortune on loan fees, some more than our permanent transfers, as well as wages, so are still part of his transfer strategy. Which cost around £40m. Managing to recover our losses after 6 months doesn't make it a successful signing. And we haven't actually yet been offered the type of fees fans are suggesting for the 3 anyway that Wishy was giving Thelwell credit for in the 1st place.
Martin, who was largely Thelwell's fault too, may have had a say, but wouldn't have the final word. We, hopefully, will make money from the couple of gems, but the squad he built and his recruitment was still a total disaster.
01 Jul 2026 06:27:03
Wishy just call Angus a tim and he will crack in seconds mate. Sorry Angus, promise last i will mention it 😅
01 Jul 2026 06:58:54
Aye, the truth always hurts, Big D. 👀😉🤣🤣
01 Jul 2026 07:34:19
Angus ya big Timothy your caught
01 Jul 2026 08:13:56
Wishy, you see it isn't about the winning, it is about the taking part on here. I like it when people come back and discuss. Eventually I do get fed up making the same points, but here there was a bit to chat about so thanks.
BD, the moral of this is I won't react to anything when I have had a day from hell and mention it all you want; I will continue to respond on it but not as poorly as then.
My apologies for that.
Oh, and let's get it right, I am a lying Tim. 😂
As a final post, I hope this recruitment team find as many gems as the ones we have been talking about. If so, they have got the trading process on track.
01 Jul 2026 08:31:40
Angus, I've tried out your 3 out of 7 and ignore all my loans reasoning with my missus and my accountant to say I'm not that bad at spending. Strangely enough, they weren't impressed. 😜 Hope u have a good day bud. 👍
01 Jul 2026 10:06:16
Kaiser, you need to mix with more optimistic people and possibly change your accountant if he can't work out the percentage success of 3 out of 7 (permanent) singings. If you take in loans, then it is much lower. But my selective reasoning came to the fore. 😂
01 Jul 2026 10:43:27
Don't worry, I am much more optimistic now, because the likes of him are gone now. As a footnote, we have also had other gems we've made profit from under the previous regimes too, like Bassey, Aribo, Kamara, etc., but I doubt many would suggest our recruitment over the last decade or so has been overly successful.