Rangers sporting director Kevin Thelwell expects to oversee clear-the-air talks between Rangers boss Russell Martin and midfielder Nico Raskin when the Belgian returns from international duty.
The pair have had a strained relationship since the appointment of the former Southampton manager in June.
Raskin, the club’s player of the year last term, was dropped from the squad entirely for Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Celtic after previously losing his status as a regular starter.
It was widely speculated the 24-year-old former Standard Liege player would be sold before Monday’s transfer deadline, but no move materialised.
Asked in a club interview how the situation with Raskin would pan out, Thelwell said: ‘Well, he’s away on international duty now, so to my mind, what happens is he goes on international duty, he comes back as a Rangers player.
‘And when he comes back, Russell and I sit down with Nico and talk about what we do next. And again, it’s very, very important that we all understand that we all want the same thing.
Russell Martin and Nico Raskin clearly haven’t been seeing eye-to-eye so far this season
Raskin has been dropped to the bench this season in favour of new signing Joe Rothwell
Sporting director Kevin Thelwell wants to see clear-the-air talks between the pair next week
‘We all want a better Rangers team. We all want a stronger Rangers team and we all want a winning Rangers team. And I think it’s also important to make the point that this year is a very important year for Nico.
‘He’s a terrific player, he’s obviously a full Belgium international, he’s got a World Cup coming up. I’m sure he’s going to want to be a strong part of that.
‘And so him doing his best for Rangers and playing as well for Rangers is going to be important to him. And of course, it’s going to be important to us. So a conversation to be had in due course.’
Thelwell also moved to give Martin his unequivocal support, declaring that he is ‘certain’ the under-fire manager will ride out his difficult start and win over his detractors.
Martin has already endured calls to leave after winning just three of his 11 matches in charge, failing to win any of his four Premiership fixtures and suffering a 9-1 aggregate humbling by Club Brugge in a Champions League play-off.
But, speaking in a club interview yesterday, Thelwell said: ‘I’ve been very lucky over the course of my career to work with some very good managers and some very good head coaches, and I have to say, he’s one of the best.
Raskin is on duty with Belgium, who face qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Kazakhstan
‘He’s a very good coach, very good on the grass, very well organised, he’s extremely high energy. He gives time to players, wants to develop players and he cares about the group, he cares about the results and the performances.
‘I’ve found him very, very collaborative.
‘Now, I appreciate I’m saying all of those things and we haven’t quite translated yet what I’m seeing on a day-to-day basis, all of that hard work, into what we need to see on the pitch, but I’m certain that that will happen.
‘I appreciate it’s very easy for me to sit here and ask for patience. I won’t do that because I know we work at an incredible football club that desires and needs to have a winning team very, very quickly.
‘But there also needs to be a little bit of perspective here because we have changed so much. And hopefully, in due course, the fans and everybody will see all of the good work that’s been going on out on the pitch through the performances.’
Thelwell acknowledged that results and performances had not gone to plan so far but he believed the ‘volume of change that was needed’ at the club over the summer had created ‘a little bit of volatility’.
Thelwell retains faith in Martin, who he played a major role in appointing as Rangers boss
‘Of course we’re disappointed with the start that we’ve made and frustrated,’ he said. ‘And I’d turn to one game in particular that I think is the most disappointing for us, which is Club Brugge away, a very difficult game for everybody, the fans included.
‘We all certainly understood after that game that we needed to put it right quickly and hopefully we’ll do that over the course of the next games.
‘There’s been a lot of work done and I appreciate nobody’s yet seen the value of that but hopefully in due course we will and we can give everybody a team to be proud of.
‘We’re working very, very hard now — now that the window has shut — to get absolutely everybody onto one page, to be very clear about what we need to do going forwards.
‘Hopefully, when we get back to the Hearts game and the games going forward, we’ll see a bit more of what we saw in the Old Firm (a goalless draw with Celtic on Sunday).’
