Russell Martin becomes stain on Rangers history as he breaks unwanted Ibrox record
Russell Martin’s bleak start to life as Rangers manager continued with a 1-1 draw away at St Mirren on Sunday.
Jonah Ayunga had put St Mirren ahead in the first half, courtesy of rotten defending by Emmanuel Fernandez and John Souttar.
Findlay Curtis’ goal in the 78th minute then rescued a point for Rangers in Paisley. However, things could have been a lot worse for Martin, as it took a stunning late save by Jack Butland to stop Alex Gogic winning the game for St Mirren in stoppage time.
When Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises hired Martin as their new permanent manager in June, there was a mixed reaction from fans after the former Ibrox defender managed Southampton in what was the second-worst Premier League campaign ever seen.
He will have been thankful to have not seen Southampton break Derby’s record-low points total of 11 in the Premier League.
But he’s been unable to avoid making unwanted Ibrox history this weekend.
Russell Martin endures worst ever start for Rangers manager
Sky Sports commentator Ian Crocker revealed at the end of the draw with St Mirren that Martin is now the first permanent Gers manager to win only three of his first nine games in charge.
Those Rangers wins came against Panathinaikos, Viktoria Plzen and Alloa Athletic.
Martin, in fact, is still waiting to beat a Scottish team that plays above League One level and with an Old Firm derby versus Celtic on the horizon before an international break, that wait could span well into September.
| Opponent | Competition | Date | Result |
| Panathinaikos (H) | Champions League | 22 July | 2-0 (W) |
| Panathinaikos (A) | Champions League | 30 July | 1-1 (D) |
| Motherwell (A) | Scottish Premiership | 2 August | 1-1 (D) |
| Viktoria Plzen (H) | Champions League | 5 August | 3-0 (W) |
| Dundee (H) | Scottish Premiership | 9 August | 1-1 (D) |
| Viktoria Plzen (A) | Champions League | 12 August | 2-1 (L) |
| Alloa Athletic (H) | Premier Sports Cup | 16 August | 4-2 (W) |
| Club Brugge (H) | Champions League | 19 August | 3-1 (L) |
| St Mirren (A) | Scottish Premiership | 24 August | 1-1 (D) |
Before the first Old Firm clash of the season at Ibrox next Sunday, Rangers travel to Belgium to play Club Brugge in their Champions League qualification play-off.
After losing 3-1 at home in the first leg, it seems a mammoth task to turn that around on the continent and reach the league phase of Europe’s premier competition.
It doesn’t get any easier for Rangers
After Club Brugge away and a derby showdown with Celtic, Rangers have to wait until 13 September to get the ball rolling again.
However, they’ll be doing that against Hearts at Ibrox, before taking on Hibernian in Govan a week later in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final.
There’s obviously a very good chance the Gers will win at least one of those next three games against domestic opposition – Celtic, Hearts and Hibs – however, on paper, it’s a difficult run for a team that’s so far failed to beat Motherwell, Dundee and St Mirren and only just got a win over League One’s Alloa.
It just shows the sad state of affairs at Rangers when things are being looked at like this.
However, when hiring a manager who’s quickly become a stain on the club’s history for how bad his recoed has been, it’s hard to look at things in a positive light.
New signings haven’t caught the eye when it matters, the old guard still aren’t stepping up and, yet again, it seems like the goalkeeper is the favourite for the player of the season award.
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