'Own it': Andrew Cavenagh breaks silence on Rangers futures of Patrick Stewart and Kevin Thelwell

Currently sixth in the Premiership and 13 points behind league leaders Hearts after just eight games, Rangers have been forced to change head coaches, with Danny Rohl coming in to replace Russell Martin, who lasted just 123 in his post.

And while Rangers fans welcomed the decision to axe Martin, they have also trained their sights on Stewart and Thelwell, who they believe should be accountable for his appointment and a so far underwhelming £20 million summer recruitment spend.

Cavenagh, Stewart and Thelwell all spoke at Rohl’s official unveiling to the media and the US-based chairman directly responded to a question on whether he still has faith in his CEO and sporting director - while admitting that errors have been made in the past few months.

“They do retain my full backing,” said Cavenagh. “Everybody makes mistakes and I know we have made some missteps along the way.

“We own it. If you make a mistake you need to try and improve and we’re committed to improving, that goes for everybody at this football club. It’s Patrick, it’s Kevin, it’s myself, it’s Paraag [Marathe, vice-chairman]. Going forward we’re all accountable.

“Our message is that we recognise their frustration. We know why they’re frustrated, we’re frustrated because results have not at all been where we want. That’s what this really comes down to. We want to give them something to be positive about. If we win football matches then we can harness this fantastic energy our supporters have in the right direction.”

Cavenagh hopes Rangers fans are reassured

Cavenagh hopes that the level of culpability that has been taken at board level will reassure Rangers supporters that they are able to turn the current malaise around less than six months into their tenure at Ibrox.

“You want to be held in a positive light and we have said that we have done things wrong,” continued Cavenagh. “We’ve owned it and we’re committed to making it right. I hope the supporters read our words and see our actions and the amount of capital we have invested in the club.

“I hope that gives them the correct impression that we love this club and we want to get it back on the right track. Our group came in and we approximately put £20 million into the club last summer.

“We never said that would be the full amount that we’d put in so we will look at the squad with Kevin over the course of the coming weeks and determine what we need. If we can make further investments then we’re prepared to do that.

Cavenagh admitted that Rangers had to act on Martin’s desperate performance. “When we became a part of this club this summer, we talked about two things, sustained winning and winning sustainably,” he added. “And four months later, it is obviously not gone as we envisioned. We did not expect it to be easy, but we also didn't expect to be where we are today.

“Part of that was the decision we made over the summer to appoint Russell as the head coach. It did not go as planned. Russell is a good guy. He worked tirelessly. He desperately wanted to win, and I wish him well. But it didn't work.

“If something doesn't work, I think there are three things that you need to do. You need to acknowledge it. You need to own it, which I believe that we have done. And you need to rectify it. And today is a big part of that. And with that, we are happy to have Danny here as our head coach. I think Danny will be incredibly successful here at Rangers.”