Rangers fans will call for Russell Martin to be sacked during a mass protest outside the main entrance of Ibrox today and it looks inconceivable the former Scotland centre-half will survive - but Matthew Lindsay is unconvinced a change of manager will resurrect the Glasgow club's ailing fortunes.
The flak which has flown in Russell Martin’s direction since Rangers’ abject William Hill Premiership defeat to Hearts last Saturday afternoon has reached, incredibly given the anger and animosity which have often abounded down Govan way in the past 13 turbulent years, unprecedented levels.
Yet, one of the insults which has been hurled at the hapless Scot, who has overseen the Glasgow giants’ worst start to a league campaign in 47 years, has perhaps been more caustic than any other. Even the assertion that his team “doesn’t look like it’s been coached”.
“He’s even worse than Pedro Caixinha,” is a pretty damning indictment of his three-and-a-half month reign.
Caixinha, the Portuguese non-entity who was plucked from nowhere by a trio of Rangers directors back in 2017 and installed in the Ibrox hotseat to the bewilderment of their legions of followers and great amusement of their rivals’ fans, feels a little like a crazed character out of a fever dream now.
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To be compared to the man who stood in a bush outside of the Josy Barthel Stadium in Luxembourg and remonstrated with his side’s incensed supporters following their Europa League qualifying defeat to minnows Progres Niederkorn has to be the ultimate slight.
That said, it would be very hard for the former MK Dons, Swansea City and Southampton manager to take anyone who uttered the slur to court given that his new-look team, who will take on Hibernian at home in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final this evening, have failed to win even one of their opening five league games and are currently languishing in 10th place in the top flight table.
The Union Bears ultras group will stage a “Martin Out Stewart Out” – chief executive Patrick Stewart, the man who interviewed and appointed the one-time Rangers centre-half this summer, has come into their crosshairs as well - protest outside the main entrance of their stadium this afternoon.
It is, even if Rangers somehow manage to halt their slump in form and win tonight, difficult if not impossible to see him turning things around and surviving. It is, despite the embattled hierarchy stressing their backing for their man during full and frank discussions with their Fan Advisory Board this week, now a question of when and not if the axe falls.
But those who have been clamouring for change this season have not been as noisy when it comes to naming who they want to come in and take over as they have been when they have been demanding Martin’s removal from his post.
There is probably a very good reason for that. There is no outstanding candidate waiting in the wings, no obvious saviour who is currently out of work and who can suddenly sweep in to Auchenhowie and transform the fortunes of an underperforming and confidence shy side overnight.
Those agitating for change will argue that nobody, not even Caixinha, could make a worse fist of things than the current incumbent is and swear blind that anyone could do better.
Bookmakers are never slow to get in on the action when a manager is under threat of the sack and lists of potential candidates have been doing the rounds in the wake of the Hearts reverse. Sean Dyche, the former Burnley and Everton manager, is the overriding favourite.
Dyche is experienced and has a big personality. He would be a box office appointment and a popular choice in the stands. The style of play he favours - an emphasis on defensive solidity, a reliance on counter attacks, a tendency to play long balls upfield to two strikers, a focus on set pieces - would help to make Rangers more competitive than they are just now.
But would a man who has spent his entire career in England and whose stock is, despite his difficult spell on Merseyside, still relatively high in the Premiership and Championship down south consider switching to Scotland?
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A lot of Rangers fans would welcome Steven Gerrard back with open arms. The Liverpool and England great resurrected them when he took over from Caixinha seven years ago. He made them more than a match for Celtic, a force in Europe again and ultimately, after myriad failures, setbacks and disappointments, delivered the Scottish title.
But could he perform, after less than impressive stints at Aston Villa and Al-Ettifaq, the same feat again? Who would he bring in as his first team coach? Would he have Michael Beale by his side again? The other possibles, Danny Rohl, Gary O’Neil, Michael Carrick, Nuno Espirito Santo, Kevin Muscat, Marco Rose, Kasper Hjulmand Gareth Southgate, Derek McInnes, Ruud van Nistelrooy, feel somewhat unrealistic.
Anyway, hasn’t the summer recruitment which new sporting director Kevin Thelwell presided over been a major issue as well? Isn’t a huge part of the problem the fact that Thelo Aasgaard, Max Aarons, Nasser Djiga, Jayden Meghoma, Mikey Moore and Joe Rothwell lack the ability and mentality required to deliver silverware? That is certainly an opinion that has been expressed repeatedly. Is a new head coach going to get a tune out of the newish arrivals.
Would Rangers fans accept having Giovanni van Bronckhorst, now assistant to Arne Slot at Liverpool, or Philippe Clement, who was this week linked with Pogon Szczecin in Poland, at the helm now? The chances are events in the past couple of months have made them revise their opinion of the much maligned duo. What could the Dutchman and the Belgian have achieved with the funds which have been made available to their successor?
There was no real standout hopeful when Martin – the former Scotland internationalist who had played at Rangers, had worked extensively as a manager at a decent level and had achieved a degree of success – was brought on board despite the names their ever optimistic followers threw into the mix.
If the Ibrox board are looking to bring in their fifth manager in three years in the near future will they get it right and reap rich rewards? Do they go for a candidate who is foreign, experienced, a club legend, or young and ambitious? Will they plump for the new Pep Guardiola or some who makes Pedro Caixinha look like Rinus Michels? There are no guarantees change will result in better times any time soon.
