Rangers and Russell Martin finally emerged victorious from a Scottish Premiership match on Sunday, defeating Livingston 2-1 away from home thanks to an injury time winner from substitute Max Aarons.
Martin was visibly emotional for the first time as Gers boss on the touchline as the goal went in, losing himself for a moment, celebrating in a fit of relief.
The former Scotland international defender, under intense pressure after the Ibrox club’s worst league start since the 70’s said he was proud of his players and the mentality they showed to snatch the win at the death.
He said: "I'm really proud of the players. We deserved to win.
"The first half was the best we've been this season, we played brilliantly, some amazing football. We should have scored more goals for sure."
Rangers had taken the lead through captain James Tavernier in the first half, but the skipper missed a penalty later in the half, saved by Livi keeper Jerome Prior, before Derek Cornelius had a goal ruled out for handball right before the break.
However, in the second half Rangers returned to their slow, pedestrian style of playing that had frustrated the support so much this season. Martin said he was unhappy with the loss of control: “We didn’t start the second half well; we didn’t control it enough.
“The gap between the first half and the second was big. But in the last 30 minutes we started to dominate again.”
With many supporters calling for his head after the awful start and European underperformance, the last minute goal was a great source of relief for the manager, and he hopes it will be a turning point in the long run.
He said: “Winning the game with a late goal could be a really big moment for us.
I enjoyed the celebrations in the dressing room, we deserved it, even if we made it hard for ourselves.
"We’re hunting a lot of teams at the moment. We have to be hungry and desperate to win.
“Today’s a big step and we need to use it as a catalyst to kick on."
However, following the celebrations in the stands for the winner, the fans once again turned on Martin, chanting for him to “GTF”, and the coach gave his views on the lack of support: "I can’t control what gets sung in the stands. I can only focus my energy on the players and staff inside the building and on improving us.
“Hopefully if we keep winning, everyone will be happy."
Rangers travel to Austria to face Sturm Graz midweek; before another away trip next Sunday to another newly promoted side Falkirk ahead of the next international break, realistically two must win games if Martin is to garner any momentum and recapture any modicum of fan support.