Glasgow Rangers ended the summer transfer window with a flourish on Monday night, as they confirmed their final two signings to bolster the squad.
Derek Cornelius signed on loan from Marseille with an option for the club to make it permanent next summer, and he will compete with John Souttar for the left-sided centre-back role.
The Canada international will be hoping to slot into the defence to improve the team’s fortunes at the back, as Rangers have already conceded 17 goals this season in all competitions.
Rangers also swooped to sign Youssef Chermiti from Everton in a permanent deal that could rise to a staggering fee of £10m, and is worth an initial £8m.
This makes the Portugal U21 international the most expensive signing made by the Scottish Premiership giants since they signed Tore Andre Flo from Chelsea in 2000 for a fee of £12m.
The investment in the squad will place even more pressure on head coach Russell Martin and his position at Ibrox, after a dismal start to his time in charge in Glasgow.
The case for Russell Martin's sacking
It is fair to say that the former Southampton boss was not the most popular appointment when he was unveiled as the new manager at the start of the summer.
Martin had a less-than-impressive loan spell at Ibrox as a player back in 2018, which may not have helped some fans to warm to him, and he endured a horrendous time in the Premier League as a manager last season.
The former Scotland international lost 13 of his 16 Premier League matches in charge of Southampton, winning once, before being sacked by the English club, per Transfermarkt.
Martin had won promotion to the top-flight with Southampton in the 2023/24 campaign, though, and Rangers may have hoped that he would be able to bring some of that experience to Ibrox to fire the team back to glory this season.
Celtic
5.7
1.2
8
Hearts
6.4
4.1
7
Hibernian
5.7
1.9
7
Rangers
4.5
3.7
6
Motherwell
5.9
5.5
6
As you can see in the table above, however, the Gers have not performed particularly well in their opening four games in the Scottish Premiership, despite underperforming their xPTS by two, with four draws.
This shows that the Gers have not played brilliantly, creating loads and not conceding many big chances, and that they cannot complain too much with their disappointing start to the campaign.
As you can see in the post above, some supporters were also left incensed by the 6-0 defeat to Club Brugge last week, leading to some fans making it very clear that they want the club to sack Martin.
A hammering in the Champions League, leading to the club dropping down to the Europa League, and the underwhelming performances and results in the Premiership do not paint a pretty picture for the Gers head coach.
It does not feel like supporters have bought into his style of play or the performances that his team have produced so far, and, given the nature of the results, the board may not be unjustified if they decide to wield the axe and part ways with him.
There is no suggestion that the club are going to do that. However, the start to the season is a huge concern and the Ibrox crowd felt as flat, as an onlooker, as it has been in an Old Firm clash for some time on Sunday.
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This is why Rangers must ruthlessly sack Martin to pursue a move for long-term club target Kjetil Knutsen, who was first linked with a move to Ibrox back in 2021.
Why Rangers should appoint Knutsen
Since that initial interest in the Norwegian head coach in 2021, Rangers were linked with him to replace Giovanni van Bronckhorst in 2022, to replace Michael Beale in 2023, to replace Philippe Clement in 2024, and to replace Barry Ferguson earlier this year.
This shows that the 56-year-old manager has never been too far away from the club’s thinking in recent years, which is why they must finally formalise their interest with a move to bring him in to replace Martin, should they decide to part ways with the Scottish boss.
Knutsen, whose former captain Ulrik Saltnes described his playing style as “kamikaze”, has enjoyed an incredibly successful spell with Bodo/Glimt, recently beating Sturm Graz to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history, whilst Celtic and Rangers both dropped down to the Europa League.
He also led his team to the semi-finals of the Europa League in the 2024/25 campaign, which made Bodo/Glimt the first Norwegian side to reach the last four of any European competition.
2025
20
45 (1st)
2024
30
62 (1st)
2023
30
70 (1st)
2022
30
60 (2nd)
2021
30
63 (1st)
2020
30
81 (1st)
As you can see in the table above, Knutsen has proven himself to be a perennial title-winner during his time with Bodo/Glimt, winning four of the last five league titles, whilst being on his way to a fifth in six seasons.
This shows that the former Rangers target has proven that he can manage a team to be incredibly successful and dominant in domestic matches when his team is expected to be on the front foot.
Meanwhile, his incredible achievements in Europe, relative to the club he is managing, show that he can also manage in underdog situations, which is why he could be perfect for Rangers and what they need.
Bringing in an experienced title-winning head coach who also has a proven track record in European competitions could be exactly what Rangers need to get Ibrox rocking and backing the manager once again, after what has been a failed experiment with Martin thus far.
