Rangers ready new appointment for Russell Martin after Sheffield Wednesday saga

Rangers are expected to bolster the backroom staff of new head coach Russell Martin.

The former Southampton man’s appointment was confirmed last month, with the Englishman signing a three-year contract at Ibrox.

While Martin’s tenure with Southampton came to a disappointing collapse, the 39-year-old’s rugged commitment to progressive football has prompted excitement among the Rangers faithful.

Rangers set to appoint former Arsenal coach

Martin’s assistant head coach in Glasgow will be Matt Gill, the two having originally crossed paths in 2021 when Martin was manager of MK Dons.

Both men later joined Swansea City together, with Gill serving as technical development coach until 2022, when he became assistant head coach following the departure of Luke Williams.

The coach then followed Martin to Southampton, where the two oversaw the club’s promotion to the Premier League.

Performance coach Rhys Owen has also joined Rangers, while the club look to have identified a new goalkeeper coach.

According to Four Lads Had A Dream, Sal Bibbo’s signature is expected to be confirmed after the 50-year-old left Sheffield Wednesday.

Bibbo joined Arsenal in 2017, going on to work under Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta before leaving in 2020.

The Englishman worked with Petr Cech, Emi Martinez and Bernd Leno during his time at the club, later joining Brighton Under-23s.

Bibbo may have say on Rangers goalkeeping situation

Jack Butland enjoyed a stellar first season at Rangers leading to rumours of a big-money to the Premier League, but made a series of high-profile errors during his second campaign last term.

There were still some good moments, with the former Stoke City man enjoying a heroic night at Ibrox when he saved two of Fenerbahce’s penalties in a shoot-out in March, seeing Rangers through to the Europa League quarter-finals.

However, a significant dip in form has thrown Ranger’s number one shirt into uncertainty once more.

Interim manager Barry Ferguson chose to drop Butland towards the end of last season, and his future under Martin is unclear.

And the arrival of Bibbo could be crucial to any decision made by Rangers in the coming months.

The goalkeeping coach will surely play a role in the selection of any new signing, although it could be his guidance that sees Butland return to the form he had displayed upon his arrival in Glasgow.