“Stronger than ever”: Russell Martin digs his heels in at Rangers | OneFootball

With the dust now settled on Russell Martin’s maiden Old Firm match at Ibrox, what are the takeaways? Specifically, what is Martin’s position and how much threat is it now under?

Protests

The first thing to point out is how little the anti-Martin protests actually came to fruition. There was barely an ounce of sentiment against the manager. The tifo on display was extremely neutral and purely pro-Rangers, while there were absolutely no chants against the manager whatsoever. Given all the social media noise, especially on Ibrox Noise, where it seemed like 98% of fans aggressively wanted this man out of the club, that anger did not materialise at the stadium. Initially there was a raucous, predictable atmosphere for an Old Firm match, which then slowly petered away much like the match itself.

A manager fully backed

We’ve already covered this performance and result on Ibrox Noise, and there’s little point in repeating it. But where does it leave Martin? His position remains solid. The board and owners back him completely. That’s why they are spending £8 million on some random from Everton and potentially another £8 million on some random from Reims. Nothing has really changed. He is still a lame duck manager, and his position remains as watertight as it did before this one.

Now, it is certainly not watertight in the eyes of Rangers fans who want him gone as soon as possible. Despite a bit more energy at Ibrox for around 25 minutes, and despite things looking a little hungrier from the home side, the apathy and timidness of the Russell Martin era continues. He remains untouchable.

Historic lows in the league

As we’ve already discussed, Rangers are seventh for the first time after four matches in the history of this club. We’ve had rubbish starts before and sat fourth, fifth or third. It happens. In a two-horse race, it has happened to both Rangers and Celtic. But never after four matches. And with the league now at 12 teams rather than 10, Rangers sit bottom half. Seventh rather than sixth. This is the lowest Rangers have ever been after four matches, on just four points. Yet Martin’s position remains completely impregnable. The board and owners remain firmly in his corner.

Lowered standards accepted

Martin himself has said it plenty of times. He even admitted he was happy with a draw, just as Philippe Clement did in November 2023 when he called a 3-3 with Celtic a moral victory. We’ve covered that before on Ibrox Noise, and it disappointed us then as much as it does now. That in itself was a sign that fans were starting to accept lower standards.

Martin has repeated Clement’s sentiments, praising a draw and being happy with it. If the Rangers manager can keep getting away with being satisfied with a draw and the board nods along, then there is nothing fans can do outside of protesting. And they don’t seem particularly interested in doing that.

Stronger than ever

Consequently, Russell Martin is probably in a stronger position now than he has ever been at Rangers. That is absolutely appalling. But them’s the breaks.