It finally happened, after 123 painful torturous days, Russell Kenneth Alexander Martin was removed from his role as Rangers first ever head coach by the board following a fifth draw in seven games away to newly promoted Falkirk, the latest chapter in the story of the Ibrox club’s worst league start since 1978.
In his 17 matches in charge Martin presided over just five victories, and only one in the league. Two promising early European wins in UEFA Champions League qualifying over Panathinaikos of Greece and Viktoria Plzen of Czechia were followed by a stuttering win over League 1 side Alloa Athletic and a win over Hibs in which Martin was thankful for VAR, both in the League Cup before his only league win over Livingston, in which total abandonment of shape and tactics in the final minutes resulted in an injury time Max Aarons winner.
From the offset there were concerns, these grew week on week until the absolute nadir, a 9-1 aggregate defeat to Club Brugge, a 6-0 away thumping being the joint heaviest defeat the club has ever endured and the first defeat by that scoreline since a loss to Real Madrid in the early 60’s. He should have went then, it was already clear he was not cut out for the job, yet he carried on until Sunday, and we now find ourselves trailing a faltering and discontented Celtic side by 9 points, and Derek McInnes’s rejuvenated Hearts by eleven.
In his 17 matches Martin has placed himself in the history books. The worst ever Rangers boss. A win percentage of just 29.41% is lower than some of the dugout’s biggest failures and regrets – for example, Paul Le Guen departed in January of 2007 with a win record of 51.61%, Pedro Caixinha in 2017 with a record of 53.85%, John Greig with 52.08% and Davie White, the first Rangers boss to never win a trophy, something that has worryingly become increasingly common in recent years, had a percentage of 64.03%. Even some of our inexperienced caretakers have exited their temporary roles with better records; for example, Greame Murty had a win percentage of 60% across his two spells, Stuart McCall had 41.18%, Jimmy Nicholl 33.33% and last season Barry Ferguson departed with a 40% record. The most damning indictment is the comparable record of Kenny McDowell in 2014/15 – a man who was handed the reigns in the midst of the Mike Ashley lead spiv ownership, on the brink of administration, with the worst ever Rangers squad, and to add to that he admitted he didn’t even want the role, even he departed with a slightly improved 30% win ratio!
In fact, you have to go back to Tommy McLean’s four match caretaker spell for a worse record, with the ex-Gers midfielder having just a 25% winning record in 1983 across his four games – not including single game caretakers such as Ian Durrant and Alex Totton who lost their only matches in charge.
His side were impotent in attack, creating very little chances, leaving proven SPFL goal scorer Bojan Miovski isolated since his signing in August, the team scoring just 21 goals in those 17 games – four of which came against lower league Alloa, that is less than the 29 Ferguson managed in his 15 games in charge last campaign – the defence was also a shambles, conceding 24 in the same period, leaving Martin with a goal difference of -3 in the end – the first ever permanent boss to depart with a negative goal ratio, and the first including caretakers since Durrant, who lost his only game away to Dunfermline 3-2, not including one-match caretakers, you have to go back to Walter Smith’s 2-match spell before Greame Souness’ arrival in 1986 for a negative record, or again to McLean in 1983.
He also presided over the majority of the run that has seen Rangers set a club record - most away games conceded in ever.
As a player, Martin was a shambles as well. A regular in Murty’s defence, he actually did manage to win ten of his 17 playing matches for the club a much improved 58.82% win ratio – but in that time he was part of a defence that conceded 25 goals, including losing 4-0 and 5-0 to Celtic in successive matches, and conceding 5 to Hibs on the final day – 1.47 per game – even worse than the 1.41 ratio his team have conceded so far this season in the same period.
Thankfully, despite being too late a removal as is, Rangers remain in four competitions, with Hearts expected to falter later in the season and Celtic not at their best, if a new boss can rejuvenate the side, and get off to a consistent start, the league can be recovered, as unlikely as it seems. We still have six Europa League matches in the new league phase to recover there, despite zero points from the first six available, and a huge League Cup semi-final against Brendan Rodgers’ side next month.
The stats do not lie, Martin was the worst ever. 17 games as a manager, 17 games as a player, a complete failure to meet the demands, pressure and minimum expectations of our great club and someone who will not darken the main doors of the Bill Struth Main Stand again.