Simon Jordan sends message to 49ers Enterprises over Russell Martin sack as ‘fraudster’ claim made
Simon Jordan has weighed in on the Rangers managerial situation, with Russell Martin staring down the barrel of an early sacking.
Rangers lost 2-0 to Hearts on Saturday, with tensions coming to the fore for the man in the dugout, who was booed throughout by the Ibrox faithful.
The Gers are yet to win a game in the Scottish Premiership, having drawn their first four before Saturday’s collapse.
Rangers are holding crisis talks over the future of Martin, with 49ers Enterprises and Andrew Cavenagh facing their first major situation just months after completing their takeover of the Glasgow club.
Martin was named manager of Rangers just four months ago, but the former Southampton boss could now join the unpleasant list of early sackings at Ibrox.
Simon Jordan takes aim at 49ers over Russell Martin trouble
Rangers lost 6-0 to Club Brugge in the Champions League play-offs, in what has been a terrible start to the season in all competitions.
Saturday’s loss seemed to see tensions at Ibrox reach boiling point, however, with Martin booed as he entered the dug out at half-time, and the stands appearing half-empty in the closing stages of the game.
After going behind early, Rangers had gone close to equalising several times, but to no avail.
| Rangers | Stats | Hearts |
| 66% | Possession | 34% |
| 14 | Shots | 12 |
| 5 | Shots on target | 5 |
| 0 | Big chances | 3 |
| 1.00 | Expected goals | 1.62 |
The Gers were on the end of several questionable refereeing decisions, too, with handball in the build-up to Lawrence Shankland’s opener going unnoticed, and Thelo Aasgaard’s second-half equaliser being disallowed for an extremely soft foul on the goalkeeper.
Ultimately, though, Martin’s side did not create enough and were roundly criticised for their efforts, or lack thereof.
Simon Jordan told talkSPORT on Monday that the 49ers need to make a decision.
“If he (Martin) is a bait-and-switch merchant, they suddenly realise that he isn’t what he said he was, like Frank de Boer was found out at Crystal Palace pretty early, then make the decision,” Jordan said.
“But don’t do it because a bunch of fans are deciding now that they’re not having him.”
- Read more: Simon Jordan can’t believe possible Russell Martin replacement at Rangers after new crisis talks
No confusion over who Rangers were hiring in Russell Martin
The bait-and-switch is a common scam that involves advertising an item at what looks to be a bargain price, before substituting it for an inferior or more expensive product.
Jordan’s comments would suggest Rangers may be discovering that Martin is not the manager he has previously portrayed, but that would be a misunderstanding of the Englishman’s style.
As he showed during his time at Southampton, Martin is a manager inherently tied to his tactics. Whether such a trait is to be described as stubborn or passionate is up for debate, the Rangers boss has not previously shown a willingness to change.
Unfortunately, that exact way of thinking looks as if it is set to lose him his job.
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