As the sounds of discontent rang round Ibrox at half-time on Tuesday night, it could have hardly been a surprise for the players who had turned in such a dismal and embarrassing performance. The dream of Champions League football flushed down the drain in little over 20 minutes.
Adding to the less than stellar start to the league season, a lot of focus has been placed on the fans and how on board they are with what Martin is trying to implement. This has led to the question: Is the atmosphere at Ibrox toxic for Rangers? Yeah, probably would be my answer to that. But I have to ask, has it ever been any different?
Ibrox is a tough place to play when things aren't going well, but that has always been the case. When Walter Smith returned to Rangers and won three league titles in a row, there were calls to replace him at certain points during each of those seasons. "Just give it to Ally to the end of the season" was a popular request in online spaces when things took a wrong turn between 2008 and 2011. Thankfully, we stuck with him, and I think he did okay in the end.
Ibrox has always been a difficult place to play, we as fans demand certain standards of Rangers teams and, more to the point, for them to be successful. Is Ibrox a more difficult place to play now than before? Again, my answer would be: Yeah, probably. Due mostly to a support that has been starved for success and in the last few years has had to endure seasons that have been write-offs from the beginning. It's no wonder that some are baulking at the prospect of another.
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Martin has, rightly, asked the fans for patience and assured everyone that the good times are coming when everything clicks. The worry for all of us is that if things do click then the season will be too far gone for it to make a difference. "Judge us in May" was the call from the manager during the week and it's an interesting proposition. What exactly will we be judging him on? What counts as success and are we as a support ready to have the difficult conversation and receive possibly even more difficult answers?
There is also the problem that he wasn't wanted by large sections, if not the majority, of the support. I was talking about this with a friend after the game and he said to me that the only manager that the fans would have universally accepted would have been Steven Gerrard. I think there's some credit to that argument. Martin was behind the 8 Ball before he started and before he pulled on the shirt and tie and then swiftly changed into a nifty polo neck. We also live in a world now where it seems we all need to stick with our first opinion and double down on it until we are proven right, because God forbid we are ever wrong.
For me personally, I'll hold up my hands and say I was in the camp that hoped he wouldn't be appointed when his name first came into the frame. However, he was appointed and I said to myself I was going to give him a chance and hope things worked out. We've now hit a roadblock and my back is up, so am I going back on my promise to give him time? My problem is that I'm not only reacting to what I'm seeing on the park but also my worst fears coming true on how a Martin-led Rangers would go.
If you were going to hold a gun to my head and ask me, truthfully, how it's going to go under Martin? I would have to say I think it's just not going to work. But my God I hope I'm wrong. I want to give him a chance, I want something to believe in and more than anything else, I want Rangers to be successful. I fear that we are rapidly approaching the point where the manager is not asking for patience, but blind faith.
The next two league games are huge for Martin and Rangers, sadly I have already written of a comeback against Brugge. To St.Mirren on Sunday, a win is all important and I don't care how we get it. If more points are dropped, then the toxicity levels could be lethal by the time Celtic come to Ibrox.