The celebrations which broke out among the Rangers support last night as their city rivals Celtic lost to Kairat on penalties in Kazakhstan and missed out on a lucrative place in the Champions League league phase proved short-lived.
It took just five minutes of their own club’s second leg play-off match against Club Brugge in the Jan Breydel Stadium in Bruges this evening to wipe the smirks off of their faces. Nicolo Tresoldi netted for the hosts early on and then the floodgates opened.
The harsh reality of the visitors' own dire predicament was driven home to their devotees during a 90 minute horror show over in Belgium. When the final whistle blew and ended their misery they had somehow managed to avoid slumping to the worst result in their entire 153 year existence.
But this was every bit as bad as the 6-0 reverse they suffered at the hands of Real Madrid in the preliminary round of the European Cup in 1963 and the 7-1 thrashings they were on the receiving end of against Celtic in the 1957 League Cup final and Liverpool in the Champions League group stages three years ago.
Schadenfreude, taking a perverse pleasure in the misery of others, is always ill-advised.
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There was some debate before this encounter with an excellent Brugge side, who strolled to a comfortable 3-1 lead in Govan in the first leg last week and were certainties to progress, about whether Russell Martin would be sacked as Rangers manager if his team loses their William Hill Premiership match against Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday.
But will he take his place in the dugout this weekend following this heavy and humiliating reverse? It will be no surprise if he is tapped on the shoulder, thanked for his valiant efforts, handed his P45 and shown the exit door before then.
Even if he does, by some minor miracle, hang on to his job it surely now only be a matter of time before he is jettisoned. He will not be able to shrug off this abject humiliation. It will follow him around.
This inept, embarrassing and gutless display highlighted what has slowly dawned on an increasing number of Rangers’ followers, despite their aggregate wins over Panathinaikos and Viktoria Plzen in the earlier qualifying rounds, in recent weeks.
Namely, that Martin, despite his previous experience at MK Dons, Swansea City and Southampton in England, is hopelessly out of his depth at Ibrox and that majority of the players he has brought in this summer, Max Aarons, Joe Rothwell, Nasser Djiga, Thelo Aasgaard and Oliver Antman, are not of a sufficient standard either.
If the new hierarchy – and the consortium comprising 49ers Enterprises, the business arm of the San Franciso 49ers NFL franchise and American healthcare tycoon Andrew Cavenagh only took over in May – do decide that the former Scotland internationalist needs more time to establish himself and implement his ideas then how long will he be able to hold on?
But it is, even with Celtic recovering from a gruelling 3,500 mile journey back from Asia, impossible to see this group of mediocre and overpaid professionals with no discernible pride in the light blue jersey they are wearing on their backs prevailing in their next outing and then turning their season around. They were outthought and outfought in every department this evening.
Leaving James Tavernier, Mohammed Diomande and Nicolas Raskin out and starting with Aarons at right back and Rothwell, Lyall Cameron and Aasgaard in midfield was a bizarre team selection. Why, too, did Cyriel Dessers not get on the field at all. Did Martin have half an eye on the Celtic match? Maybe his charges will acquit themselves better with that quintet in the line-up from kick-off?
But what does he do to shore up his porous rearguard against visitors who can deploy Daizen Maeda, Adam Idah and James Forrest in attack? Goalkeeper Jack Butland produced a string of exceptional saves in both of the Brugge games and prevented the scoreline from reaching double figures.
It is surely now a case of when not if Martin goes. His tactics are confusing, his gameplan unclear. He has now made the worst start of any manager in Rangers history, even Pedro Caixinha.
Some commentators have, quite rightly, suggested that qualifying for the Champions League proper this season would be just about the worst thing to happen to the ex-Norwich City defender because the standard of competition is just too high. It certainly was for his hapless predecessor Giovanni van Bronckhorst back in 2022.
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But how will this Rangers side fare in the Europa League? There could be more harrowing evenings for their fans to endure in the coming weeks and months on the evidence of this evening. Carlo Ancelotti would struggle to steady the ship if he was drafted in. It is like watching a car crash in slow motion just now. The Intertoto Cup looks beyond them.
The rash red card that Aarons picked up did not help Rangers' cause. Unrest behind the scenes caused by the transfer window has been destabilising as well. But those are no excuses for such a woeful performance.
He would probably have a look at what he would have at his disposal in his squad and question how he can sort out the situation. Every other manager will be exactly the same.
The future of Martin is not the only thing which should be examined. Their recruitment, which has been overseen by new sporting director Kevin Thelwell, has clearly not been good enough. Too many inexperienced kids have been drafted in. They lack height, physicality, quality and heart. They are missing strong personalities, leaders.
The fans who travelled to Belgium to cheer on their heroes chanted “Martin, Marti get to f***” in the first half – it will take a comeback of unprecedented proportions to turn those jeers into cheers.
