It is impossible to ignore the calls for the sacking of Russell Martin.
The vegan Buddhist that refuses to wear brogues or a blazer has been denied a honeymoon with the mainstream media unable to put up a case for the former Southampton boss. Fans were hostile to his appointment, results and his conduct have confirmed those fears.
Martin insists that his job requires the turning of a tanker but it is looking increasingly unlikely that he will survive through until the traditional October/November sacking season.
When Ibrox fans demand that the manager is sacked their Board of Directors have a history of complying.
In November 2022 Giovanni van Bronckhorst was driven out by angry bears, at the end of September 2023 it was taxi time for Micky Beale.
Last autumn the club resisted the clamour to sack Phil Clement, with a new CEO in place Paddy Steward delivered two votes of confidence before the inevitable arrived in February after Queens Park and St Mirren won at Ibrox.
After three league matches this season without a win under hipster Russ almost every bear is squealing for the sacking of their WOKE manager and his insipid football, a seriously diluted version of full-Pep that requires buy in from limited players like John Souttar and journeymen brought in from the English championship and League One.
Opposing manager are lapping it up as they exploit the huge gaps being left between the halfway line and Jack Butland, from St Mirren to Club Brugge they are piling on the misery while Martin adjusts his hair in the dug out and takes a look at his I-pad to see what has gone wrong.
Every time the answer isn’t the manager, bears like Marc have already had enough.
📉 “After 2 or 3 weeks into the season, he’s lost 100% of the fanbase”
😡 “Let me be clear, he’s finished at Ibrox”
🔵 Marc in Giffnock believes that Russell Martin has lost the Rangers fans. pic.twitter.com/SqLmbhQhfg
— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) August 25, 2025
As if the results weren’t bad enough Martin now has the Hamza Igamane situation to deal with, one that is entirely of his own making.
After drawing 1-1 with St Mirren the Ibrox boss could have kept quiet on whatever happened in the dug-out, instead he chose to reveal that the striker had claimed he was injured then volunteered news that a bid had been turned down for Igamane.
While the immediate reaction was to slaughter the player, after minimal reflection Martin’s decision making came into the spotlight.
Why would you take that course of action, exposing the attitude of one of the club’s few sellable assets?
Is Martin working his ticket for a pay off and a return to the sympathetic media circuit down south where some still view him as a visionary?
What is absolutely certain is that the club is in a hullva spot now with Igamane. The player agreed personal terms with Lille in June, no worthwhile offer was made, last week an offer to take the chunky striker on loan was turned down with a petted lip appearing at the training ground and in the dug out.
Already it seems that Martin has lost the backing of James Tavernier and Nicky Raskin.
After drawing the SPFL opener at Motherwell he questioned the mentality of the players, four were dropped for the next match, at home to Viktoria Plzen including Tavernier and Raskin.
Captain Disappointed has been dropped for a pint size loanee who has been bombed out of Bournemouth and Valencia but welcomed to Ibrox by Martin, Max Aarons is a former Norwich team-mate of Martin.
Since the turn of the year Raskin has been repeatedly told that he is the best player in Scottish football, destined for the top end of the EPL and a fee greater than Celtic received for Matt O’Riley.
The reality is that the Belgian starlet has been bumped out wide to accommodate Joe Rothwell who appears to be a slower version of Tom Lawrence.
Russell Martin has the worst start of any Rangers manager in history.
Luckily for the fans, our Support Group is here to help…
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) August 24, 2025
Today the focus of the madness switches to Belgium and a pre-match media conference for Wednesday’s match with Club Brugge.
The usual soundbites will be spewed out in that irritating managerial-speak, everything will be upbeat with the lads in good spirits. After speaking for too long Martin almost always finishes up with a nervous smirk.
It will take an incredible turnaround for results to pick up, the Ibrox fans that were prepared to give their new boss time to settle in are being forcibly reminded on why they were in a small minority.
It wasn’t that Martin wasn’t wanted by fans- they were actively hoping that the club would appoint almost anyone but the smooth talking hipster that sounded eerily like Micky Beale. Davide Ancelotti would have been welcomed although most were hoping for the return of Steven Gerrard without his gobby first team coach.
Martin has been written off, next in the firing line is Paddy Stewart and Kev Thelwell, if they don’t give in to demands to sack the Martin some ripples of anger might be felt by Andrew Cavenagh as his soccer dream turns into a nightmare.
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