Rangers dismissed head coach Russell Martin last night after drawing 1-1 away to newly promoted Falkirk, a result that left the club with one Scottish Premiership win in seven games.
Martin departs as statistically the worst ever permanent Rangers manager, in terms of win percentage, goals scored per game and goals conceded per game, ranking worse than the likes of John Greig, Paul Le Guen and the hapless Pedro Caixinha.
His press conferences became more and more questionable as results went on, even post-match at the Falkirk Stadium he insisted he could see improvements and that he did not expect talks over his future. He was wrong, and after departing Grangemouth via police escort – separate from the Rangers squad who left on the team bus, the club announced they had ‘parted company’ with the former Southampton boss.
Over the past few weeks, he has continually pointed to the players mentality and feelings of anxiety as the reasoning behind the poor performances and results, flat out refusing to accept his tactics and management were an issue.
However, speaking after the draw with the Bairns, midfielder Joe Rothwell, who was signed by Martin after playing under him during Southampton’s promotion winning season in 2022/23, refuted claims of anxiety.
When asked if he felt he and his teammates were anxious by the media, Rothwell said: "I wouldn't say there's any anxiety. Obviously, you hear the things that are being chanted from the fans and it's hard to ignore that.
“We’ve got to come together as a group and speak to the lads that have been around it before and try and gather off them how we want to get through this.
“If we can do that and we can start to win games, then hopefully the fans will get behind us again."
This seems to go against the departed bosses party line of anxiety being an issue, with one of his most trusted intendents denying his coaches claims regarding the squad’s mentality. The writing was on the wall yesterday and Martin was gone shortly after.
The official Rangers statement on his departure was short and sweet, with very little meat. It read simply: “Rangers Football Club confirms that it has parted company with Head Coach, Russell Martin.
While all transition periods require some time, results have not met the club's expectations.
Assistant Head Coach, Matt Gill, and First-Team Coach, Mike Williamson, will also be departing.
Russell and his staff have worked exceptionally hard throughout their time at the club. We thank them for their efforts and wish them well for the future.
Further updates from the club will follow in due course.”
Interestingly, goalkeeping coach Sal Bibbo has not been dismissed and looks to remain as the sole remanent of Martin’s coaching staff.
Despite the result, and sitting 9 points behind Old Firm rivals Celtic, and 11 behind league leaders Hearts, managed by ex-Rangers player Derek McInnes, Rothwell believes Rangers can still mount a title challenge, he said: “We've just got to now take it each game as it comes. The next league game, we have to go out there [and win].
“We can't do anything now but win games. We need to look at ourselves and hopefully we can go out there and do that.
“It's a huge football club and we don't want to be in the position we're in at the minute. We want to be fighting at the top of the table."
Rangers now have two weeks to appoint a successor to Martin, a decision CEO Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell simply have to get right, or the fans ire will turn on them further.
If the new boss is the correct choice and is in with enough time to get off the ground running, the league is still there to be challenged for, Celtic are scraping by and Hearts have no history of maintaining a title challenge. This decision is the most important one of the new regime, and it has to be correct.