When Steven Gerrard pitched up at Ibrox in 2018 7000 fans turned up to pay homage to the new king. Pulling up outside Ibrox on a grey Thursday morning there was none of that for Russell Martin. Only seagulls and indifference
Glasgow has seen this movie before. In June 2021 Celtic ended their 105 day search for a new head coach by confirming the arrival of Ange Postecoglou. Prepped the arrival of Eddie Howe, supporters were underwhelmed.
The Electronic Tims website claimed the appointment didn’t ‘make any sense whatsoever.’
Another supporter called it a ‘reckless gamble. Board embarrassing themselves again.’
When the Australian lost three of his opening six league games the prophets of doom nodded sagely.
Over time they were silenced by good recruitment and a winning catch phrase. ‘We never stop’ became Postecoglou’s personal mantra at Parkhead and he was true to his word. By the time he left for Tottenham Hotspur supporters were inconsolable. Fickle old game, football.
Russell Martin has spent his career proving the naysayers wrong. Defying the people who didn’t believe he could step up to the plate.
Growing up in Brighton his Scottish father Dean served time in prison for domestic violence towards his mother.
Living next to a bookmakers’ the family home went when the gambling debts mounted. The second of four brothers cleaned windows and pub toilets and worked in the local Spar to make ends meet and through all found a way to become school head boy. Later a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis prompted a switch to veganism.
Pitch in a flirtation with Buddhism and a past membership of the Green Party and the former Scotland defender strikes no one as the new late Jock Wallace. Rattle off a list of clubs Martin has worked at, however, and it’s a common reaction. He has never been welcomed in with open arms anywhere.
He played non league football when no one believed he was good enough to be a pro and, when he finally caught a break under Tony Adams at Wycombe he moved up the ladder to Peterborough and Norwich. A stalwart under Paul Lambert, he was shown the door by Daniel Farke, then packed off on loan to Glasgow for an ill-fated loan spell at Ibrox.
That six months – when he played in 5-0 and 4-0 defeats to a rampant Celtic – clouded the judgement of supporters who had set their heart on a Davide Ancelotti or a Francesco Farioli this time.
Reflecting on that period yesterday Russell admitted he was nowhere near his physical peak and failed to do himself justice. Back in Glasgow on a mission of redemption, he plans to make amends.
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When Rangers were toiling trying to break down Queen’s Park and Motherwell last season, there were no shortage of C words around Ibrox.
The unveiling of Martin as the club’s new head coach added two new additions to the vernacular.
Fans can expect to hear a courage and culture at the Rangers. The words cropped up so often yesterday Patrick Stewart should plaster them underneath ‘aye ready’ on the club crest.
It took courage for the new manager to keep Leicester dangling while he placed Rangers on speed dial. Courage to take a job where a decent number of supporters patently didn’t want him.
He’ll need a strong constitution to take on a Brendan Rodgers Celtic team which has monopolised the Champions League money and the trophies in recent years. And to do it by playing possession based football, dominating games with the ball, breaking down low blocks and aggressively winning it back when they lose it.
Rangers supporters have spent much of the last two year screaming out for a coach with an identity and style. Someone in stark contrast to Michael Beale and Philippe Clement. Now they have one they don’t seem to want him and the coming weeks will be spent vying for hearts and minds.
Martin calls his dedication to possession based football ‘belief, desire, playing the way we want to play’. When it goes wrong critics prefer to call it stubborn, arrogant and inflexible.
Defensive frailties contributed to Southampton shipping 63 goals in the Championship the season they finished fourth. In the English Premier League they were torn to shreds, opponents employing a high, hard press to exploit a dogged determination to build from the back.
Some seem to think that a manager who fails in the English Premier League can’t possibly succeed in Glasgow. Try telling that to Ange Postecoglou. Success or failure in one offers no real gauge to what might happen in the other.
A thread on social media site X by Saints Statistics offered fans some pointers on what to expect from Martin’s Rangers.
Exceptional man management, extreme possession football and defensive frailties were the headline bullet points. Beating rivals in big games was another and, in Glasgow, that does wonders for a manager’s approval ratings.
Most striking was an ability to break down low blocks effectively. When Blackburn and Swansea put eleven men behind the ball against Martin’s Southampton side it cut no ice. They shipped five goals anyway.
Rangers could have used some of that last season. Against Celtic, playing in the Europa League, they pressed hard, set traps and played dynamic, attacking football. When they went up against a 4-5-1 or a 5-3-2 they shipped points to Kilmarnock, Aberdeen, St Mirren, Dundee United, Hibs, Dundee and Motherwell. Had they won all of those they might have given Celtic a serious run for their money.
While the cameras and the focus fell on Russell Martin, the most important new arrival at Ibrox was sitting to his left
Sporting Director Kevin Thelwell calls Rangers a ‘complicated problem to solve.’ And while beliefs, tactics, philosophy and culture will go some way towards fixing the conundrum, nothing trumps the importance of good recruitment.
Put Russell Martin in the Championship with the best players and he wins promotion. Put him in the English Premier League with the worst and all he wins is a P45. There’s nothing terribly complicated about that.
Games of football are won by good players and, in recent years, Rangers haven’t signed nearly enough of those to win them consistently. Improve the hit rate this summer and the club’s 20th permanent manager has an even chance of proving people wrong. And not for the first time either.
