Russell Martin was introduced to Rangers supporters during his first press conference at Ibrox Stadium following his appointment as the club’s new head coach on Thursday morning. The former Southampton, Swansea and MK Dons boss has been appointed on a three-year deal as the permanent successor to Philippe Clement, who was sacked in February and replaced by Barry Ferguson on an interim basis until the end of the season. Martin, a former Scotland international defender who had a loan spell at Rangers from Norwich City in 2018, will be tasked with closing the gap to Celtic and bringing success back to Ibrox after a barren spell which has seen them lift only three trophies in 13 years. Here is the full Q&A from his Rangers unveiling as he vowed to win over the doubters by marrying his philosphy of dominant possession-based football with the need to deliver results... It's an incredible feeling. Firstly, I'm really grateful to everyone, to the board, to Patrick, to Kevin, for their trust and faith in me. It's been a really tough and rigorous process. It's taken some time, but that's what you expect when you want to be a manager of this football club, a club of this stature in size and expectation. So I'm delighted it's ended up with me being in this chair, and I'm extremely grateful for that as well. And now I'm just desperate to get started and excited about what's to come and what we can really get building here. There were a few opportunities since I left Southampton early on, and then a bit of a break. No real interest to get straight back in February, March time, even with some tentative approaches. But I wanted to take some time to really reflect and review on what we've learned as a coaching staff, and I've learned as a person, as a leader, as a manager and as a coach. I think that time was really important. Then when this one was first suggested, and even with a couple of other opportunities on the horizon, this last few weeks, this was the one I really wanted. One, because of the expectation, the size of it, what it means to so many people, the opportunity to come here and experience something completely different to anything in football. That's what I felt when I played here for a really short period. That also comes into my mind, probably when I look back on my career as a player. It's the one thing that hurt me a lot was that it didn't go very well here, because I wasn't quite in the right place physically to do as well as I possibly could, and it was a difficult time for the club. So also that comes into the equation as well. I'm desperate to show a different version of myself here than I did previously. And just everything, the fresh start, how these guys have been in the process, the owners, it's just really exciting, the whole thing. So I was really honest from the outset that I wanted to be the manager and this would be my first choice. Much to the detriment of my agent who kept saying to me to play, my card's close to my chest, but I was really honest and really open and I'm delighted I'm now here. We’ve managed three clubs, the teams all look really different, all with the same concept of the game, to try and be aggressive with the ball and without it, because you can't have one without the other. They've all played different formations, different shapes, different personnel, different people making up different positions in terms of what they have. So we are here to win and we'll do that in the best way we possibly can, within a similar concept to the game, which is to be dominant with the ball, which I think is what Rangers fans expect. But to be really aggressive, really intense, really passionate, really hard-working, first and foremost, before anything with the ball has to come to that. We're here to win and we're here to do it in the best way we possibly can and also to help the club be sustainable with academy players coming through, young players, creating assets for the football club. And every job's been different. So at MK it was about survival first and then building something where we could sell players on because it wasn't going to be the destination, it was going to be a stop for the players. Swansea was very similar, the budget was heavily cut when we went there. So I deem those jobs and what the expectation of us was, to be a success, probably a bigger success than Southampton was. Southampton in the first year of the Championship was the first time we were expected to win, and we did, and we did what we were expected to do, which was to get promoted. Then of course, the challenge for the Premier League is very different. So I know the expectation here is to win and we want to do that. We want to do it in a way that is aligned with all of us, how we want to feel about the team and how we think Rangers fans want to feel about their team. I think it's to win trophies. It's to build a culture at the training ground here that we are proud of, and that people can feel when they come into the building and that the ownership want to feel when they come into the building. An environment of hard work, of honesty, of openness inside and outside of the building and to see a team that doesn't look different every week, that is always trying to improve and develop in our own way. Rather than focusing on the opposition too much or what other people are doing, we're going to do it in our way and we're all going to be fully on the same page. I think the alignment and what I've felt over the last few weeks in the process is the most important part for me. I think we're all on the same journey. We want to be successful and ultimately at Rangers, that means to win trophies. And we have to improve the team on the pitch, improve the environment on the pitch as much as we possibly can. Because there are already some brilliant people at the football club. Some of them I know and worked with here and I've spoken to over the last couple of days who I'm really excited to work with again, to see and link up with again. So to keep building on that and to bring our own twist on it and to win. Ssupporters are the most important people at any football club. They'll be here long before and after any manager, any coach. So I think my job is to give them a team that they identify with and feel proud of, a team that wins. And they go into a game knowing what to expect. A team that's going to give everything to run as hard as they possibly can. I think that's one thing that gets overlooked at the teams we've managed. They always run the most out of possession, the most sprint distance, the most high speed running. Because they have to if they want to dominate the ball and be aggressive. So I think it's a given. But it's never a given, it's actually an attribute. You need to work hard, not everyone has that. So we want people that have that to come to the club. I know I'm sat next to two people that work extremely hard and have got a work ethic that matches my own. So I'm excited about all of that. And to the fans, I don't think I've been the number one choice at any club I've been at. So as a player from MK to become the manager is a bit of a surprise to the supporters. To then go to Swansea, they've lost in the play-off final and then the budget's been cut. And then we turned up in League One. And then Southampton the same, they've just been relegated from the Premier League. So I'm sure there were all sorts of names mentioned when I was interviewing for the job. And then I got it. And by the time we've left every club I've been at, I felt a real connection with the supporters. I felt they've been really behind us. Definitely the playing staff and the staff we've been working with wherever we've been. Because of the relationships we've formed and maintained at every club we've been at. I hope this will be the same, I really do. And I hope people judge us, and judge me in particular, on this moment. And not when I was a player here a while ago. Because it's very, very different. I feel my whole playing career was based on hard work, resilience, and trying to find a way myself. And I'm even surprised at the playing career I had, playing in the Premier League. Because if you'd said that when I was 18, I wouldn't have thought that. It was not done on talent. But I think my whole playing career itself, to become a coach and a manager, I always wanted to do that. And I'm really grateful that I ended up playing for as long as I did. I've always had a burning desire to do this from an early age. And actually, my period here before it was incredible learning for me. It helped me so much on my journey about culture, about what to expect, about what's required. And listening to Jimmy Bell, the kitman, tell me stories. And Disco [Dave Lavery, club masseur], who's been here for years, and people like that. And Stevie the physio, and listening to them talking about it. It just whetted my appetite even more. So I learned a lot when I was here. And it's helped me prepare for it now. Yeah, it's not about style. It's about a consistent level of application and desire and intensity. Because things are going to change week to week in terms of the plan, what we're up against, how we're going to have to break down our position, or how we're going to have to press little tweaks and adaptations for formation maybe. But in terms of what I want them to see is the same mentality all the time. All the time. And they know what to expect in terms of that wherever they go. Because the game throws up lots of different variables after that. No, I think quite positively. I think about how much people care about the club, and how intense the support is, how passionate they are. Obviously you’re aware of that, but I've not gone into it thinking about that. I've thought only about the positives, about if we get this place going, and a team that they enjoy watching and attacking football with intensity. I've only thought about the positives, about how strong and how powerful that can be, and I really hope we can achieve that. Yeah, I have to be. I think I have a lot to prove. I have done it my whole career. My whole career has been based on proving people wrong, really. At every level, I got questioned. I got to the Premier League as a player. I wasn't convinced that I could do it, but I managed to establish myself there for a little while. I ended up playing four or five seasons there, played international football, which I'm incredibly proud of. So it's the same again as a manager, I have to prove people wrong at every opportunity. There's always some names in football management that are always a bit more exciting than others, of course. I feel after five and a half years of being a manager, being a coach, being a leader in an environment, I love doing it, and I'm going to bring... I'm going to be all in here with my energy, and my love for it, and passion, and hopefully that will reflect on the pitch and people will see that, and at some point they'll enjoy it. Ultimately, they just want to win, and if our team is winning, I'm sure they'll be happy. I think we've had in League One, the Championship, the Premier League, we've had players from all different backgrounds, different technical capacity, different athletic capacity, and the board's been able to create a team that we enjoy watching and working with, and has certain aspects of the game that we really deem important. I think the squad that's in place now can definitely do better, be better, and that's not disrespect to anyone. When you have a change of management mid-season, I thought Barry did a brilliant job taking over halfway through, and taking that on to the end of the season. And I think we're going to add to the squad, I think we're already clear on what the squad needs, what it requires, and I think we're really excited about that as well, the change, but also giving people a chance to show maybe a better version of themselves, the best version of themselves, maybe a different version. So I'm excited about that because people always surprise you as well, players always surprise me in every club we've been at. When I go in with already an opinion on them from watching from afar, and then going into the building and seeing them, there's always a surprise or two, and I'm looking forward to seeing who they are. I think we're confident we can have a team that is better, gets more points, wins more games, and competes, yeah, really competes to win trophies. It's based on two things really, without going into all the detail and talking about technical detail and stuff, it's based on courage and intensity. Courage to take the ball, to express yourself in the final third. And it's not always easy in front of 50,000 people with a big expectation. In fact, it's tough. It's one of the toughest things to do in football. So hopefully with clarity and what is expected of them individually in their relationships on the pitch together, as a team, hopefully that clarity will help them to play with courage and to express themselves with a level of freedom within the structure where they can go and be players that people enjoy watching. They're going to have to take the ball sometimes in some moments in areas of the pitch that may be deemed risky, but they'll always have solutions and options. But it's to play the game in the opposition half to dominate territory as much as we possibly can and then to work out solutions how to break people down, to hurt them and stop transition. Set plays are going to be really important. So we need to focus a lot of work on that as well. So it's not just one area of the game. And actually, I never really had to speak about the style of play until we got to the Premier League. And then, people who hadn't watched our team or my team for four and a half years, five years, only became obsessed about that. So I ended up talking about that all the time. And I want to avoid that because things will change within that. And we've learned a lot from that. But the concept of the game will always be the same to try and dominate. To dominate the ball and to dominate territory. And to do that, you have to be really aggressive about it as well. Yeah, so Matt Gill's coming. He's been my assistant manager all the way through and he brings technical expertise as a coach. Brilliant coach who had to play a huge role in developing a lot of players at Norwich since he had the 21s. We played together very briefly and then I worked with him when he had the 21s. When I was on my way out as a player at Norwich and I realised then what an excellent coach he was and how much care he had for the players and how much they loved him. Guys like Max Aarons, Todd Cantwell and the Murphy twins, some brilliant players under his tutelage. And we're very different personalities, so he's a bit more calm and introverted than I am, so it's good for me and it's a good balance. He's coming and then Rhys Owen's coming as well, who's actually on holiday in Portugal just now. He's been texting us relentlessly because it feels like he's missing out today. But he'll be up here next week and he's a physical performance coach first and foremost. Really aligned with the way we want to play so he understands how the players need to be prepared and he'll work with the sports science and physical department up here, medical department and be a really good link from them to us to get to know each other very quickly and to understand what the physical requirements will be. Also a really good technical coach as well so it's just those two at the moment and then we've got some brilliant people inside the building and we'll assess things over the next few weeks together and then see if we need to add and as and when we do and see in which areas. I can't wait to get time on the training pitch with the players but I think we need to we need to win early. We need to find a way to win whilst we're developing I think it's really important. We had to do that at Southampton. We had to win in amongst a lot of change and also winning helps you convince people - players, staff, supporters - so no I can't sit up here and go, ‘it's going to take us two years to build something and do that’. It's not why we're here. I want us to keep improving and developing. The end product might not click completely overnight but we have to find a way of winning whilst building that and developing that and it's a challenge we really accepted at Saints and we'll do that here as well. I'm just talking about winning games to create some energy and momentum and I think if you have that here it can be so powerful and so strong. I think it's a much easier question to answer in four or five weeks once we've had some training time, and we've added to the squad, and we see what shape we're in. But I think we can improve in all areas, I really believe that, and I think we can definitely be better. Time will tell. We have our own expectation of what we want in terms of the squad and how it's going to look and how we're going to train and how we're going to perform and after that the rest will take care of itself. I'm not going to make any promises. I don't think it helps anybody. But the promise I will give is we are going to be all in to make this club and the team better amidst the fresh start and new energy. I think it's a really exciting time.