Who the hell appointed Russell Martin at Rangers? | OneFootball

Rangers fans are today soul-searching about just exactly what process led to Rangers’ board selecting Russell Martin as manager. Ibrox Noise will not pull the wool over your eyes, and we will admit that absolutely there was a lack of enthusiasm about Martin from the start. This was heavily weighted against the former Southampton manager as being a desired individual up the marble staircase in Govan. There is no question he was not popular. In fact, stating the truth, he was the least popular appointment we have ever seen as Rangers manager, exceeding by a distance Michael Beale. So the odds were always against Martin in terms of popularity. Rangers duped into appointing Russell Martin.

However, that very quickly turned into, he’s here now, we’ve got to give him a chance. Nevertheless, regardless of what the fans believed or had to put up with, something within the Rangers board made them choose a man with a 6% win ratio in the Premier League and a mediocre lower league EFL management career otherwise as the new custodian of the Rangers position. From what we gather, the appointment was made by Kevin Thelwell and Patrick Stewart. No one particularly likes these two either. We don’t know if the new owners picked Thelwell, but they have certainly endorsed Stewart. And many have argued that the appointment of Martin has Stewart’s fingerprints all over it.

Regardless of who it actually was, the data simply did not back Martin as a valid candidate. His lower league management in the EFL was mediocre to above average. His management in the Premier League was catastrophic. There was no evidence, CV wise, that he was the right man. And yet Rangers management went with it. The board chose him. Why?

The longest lasting theory we hear is that he spoke well in interview, that he pulled the wool over their eyes with jargon, with content, with intent, with strategy, with buzzwords. Things that made men who are not necessarily football experts believe this man was exactly the answer. There is one other little aspect as well. He was cheap. As a free agent who had been fired by Southampton, Martin was not coming at a high price. He will, however, cost a few quid to pay off because he has a three-year deal.

We don’t know what the figure will be, potentially a fair few million anyway. But nevertheless, the notion that he was very cheap, and of course desperate for the job, as well as the fact that he apparently spoke well in interviews, seemed to be what convinced Rangers hierarchy he was the correct man. TalkSport’s coverage of his arrival even noted how his background did not convince everyone.

Very few among the Rangers support believed he was the correct man. To be fair, a few did. There were a handful of those hipster type fans who look at transitions and buzzwords and jargon and modern coaching standards and somehow managed to left-field justify this guy. But then they are the sort of fans who would justify a bottom of the league two manager in Scotland as being the right answer for Rangers in some way. There will always be people who defend the indefensible. Martin is one of them.

Nevertheless, he remains here at the moment, but 99% of the fans want him gone soon, and they will hopefully get their wish.What an absolute waste of time and money. Rangers duped into appointing Russell Martin. It has cost Rangers at least another season.