I liked Patrick but Kevin and I did not agree on recruitment ...he's paid the price for not getting value for money

Spotlight was always going to fall on him after failed reboot

- BARRY FERGUSON

I'VE got to hand it to Andrew Cavenagh.

If any Rangers fans out there were concerned about having American owners who are a bit detached from the reality on the ground in Glasgow, then on Monday morning Cavenagh didn't half put them straight.

No one saw it coming. The fans had left Ibrox on Saturday relatively satisfied with another three league points in the bag despite the standard of the performance against Livingston being some way short of what the manager would have been hoping for.

With four league wins on the trot under Danny Rohl, the mood around my old club has been lifted, even though there is an understanding that there's a lot of hard work still to come.

So for Cavenagh to turn up out of the blue and announce the dismissals of chief executive Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell? Well, that was unexpected and probably very welcome where a large section of the supporters are concerned.

Better still, the way Cavenagh handled it was very impressive.

He could have done it from arm's length over the end of a video call from his office in Philadelphia. That would have been the easy way.

But the fact that he jumped on a plane to look people in the eye and hold these difficult discussions in person before stepping out in front of the cameras to take ownership of the decisions he had made? That tells me that he understands what the club is all about. It shows that he has learned a lot about the club during a relatively short period of time in charge.

And it demonstrates to the fans that he cares as deeply and passionately about Rangers as they do, which is why he is taking a real hands-on approach to dealing with the big issues.

I liked his interview, too. He was straight, blunt and ruthless in everything he did and said.