The media vultures are hovering over Russell Martin, waiting on their moment to pounce following today’s 1-1 draw away to St Mirren.
Three matches into the SPFL season and Martin’s side are trailing Celtic by six points on the back of three 1-1 draws. In none of those matches were the Ibrox side the better team.
In Paisley today Neil McCann was highly critical of the tactics deployed by Barry Ferguson’s successor.
While he claimed for every decision in favour of his old club McCann was highly critical of the tactics, the substitutions and the in-game changes from the away dug-out.
Billy Dodds, another of Ferguson’s coaches last season performed a similar hatchet job on Radio Scotland.
Before and after the match Kris Boyd gave Martin no leeway, his best pals are Allan McGregor and Ferguson.
Any new Ibrox manager, even someone like Pedro Caixinha are given a sympathetic welcome across the Scottish media but that is a tradition that Martin has been denied.
It is very obvious that Martin has no friends in the Scottish media, he has an arrogance and contempt whenever he is put in front of the cameras and microphones that has switched off a naturally sympathetic audience.
While that is understandable when you are faced by the ranks of reporters from the Daily Record, Rangers Review, STV and others it is a smart move to at least fake an interest in creating media relationships.
The nodding dogs of fan media were all taken in by a few media conferences and getting to watch an hour of training during pre-season at St George’s Park.
While they have tried to push the idea of Russell’s Revolution their followers and subscribers have made it very clear that there is no place at Ibrox for Martin-ball.
Trying to push comparisons with Ange Postecoglou are clearly ridiculous.
A Championship hipster that sounds as detached as Micky Beale just won’t wash with red blooded bears who’d rather see Neil Warnock or David Martindale in the dug out.
Neil McCann did say at the time it panned to Igamane.
– “Igamane is warming up? He’s just standing around while the others are at the sideline doing their warmup”
Just thought I’d mention it. https://t.co/AUeeUvJ5rl
— Scott (@RakoTuke) August 24, 2025
It almost seems as if McCann was expecting Igamane to throw a sickie, next time the phone call might be going straight to McCann rather than getting a phone call to front it with Ferguson given the blazer and brogues.
Boyd also commented at half-time on the lack of intensity in Igamane’s half-time warm up.
Before the SPFL season started Boyd gave his usual title prediction, before and after today’s match it seemed like he was campaigning for a change in manager with his besties waiting in the wings.
Ferguson, McCann and Dodds haven’t taken up jobs in management. All three are back on the media gravy train with extra credibility on the back of their stint as part of the interim management team that quickly replaced Phil Clement. Allan McGregor has no chance of a job in football, a call to work under Ferguson is his only option, after his midweek appearance on Amazon Prime there won’t be a flood of media invitations.
Since taking the club into private ownership Andrew Cavenagh has only turned up for one match, the Champions League qualifier at home to Panathinaikos on July 22. As Martin toils and the noise for his sacking increases with the focus will switch towards Cavenagh and the guy from Leeds United.
Martin went through seven rounds of interviewing before getting the manager’s job, anyone listening to his sales pitch more than once is bounce to get a headache, no credible contender for a manager’s job would put himself through seven rounds of interviews.
His main qualification for replacing Ferguson was that he was free and available, had Southampton retained him he wouldn’t have been near the Ibrox vacancy.
It is clear that the former MK Dons boss is yet another import from England that has no idea about the Scottish game, usually it is players such as Todd Cantwell, Ben Davies and Tom Lawrence who talk large and deliver little. It is a far more serious that the square peg is the manager charged with leading a Revolution, according to the unquestioning media they are being bankrolled by the 49ers with a limitless budget.
Before he was appointed manager Martin was detested by a huge section of the Ibrox support, a small element were prepared to give him a chance but they’ve had their delusions trashed a month into the season.
It seems certain that Martin won’t last as long as Pedro Caixinha who was in charge for 26 matches either side of summer 2017, the new owners are extremely fortunate to have a ready made management team on stand-by in Ferguson, McCann, Dodds and McGregor with Andy Halliday an outside option as he climbs the media ladder.
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