Michael Stewart immediately reacts as Rangers vs Hibernian halted with Ibrox protests
Rangers fans protested outside of Ibrox before their clash with Hibernian and this continued into the ground.
The Union Bears organised protests outside the main entrance of Ibrox, and hundreds of Rangers fans gathered to chant against Russell Martin and Patrick Stewart.
As the game kicked off, there were thousands of empty seats as Rangers fans voted with their feet against Martin, who is winless in the Scottish Premiership.
The game was halted after 11 minutes as the Union Bears continued their protests, and there was no way for Andrew Cavenagh to ignore them.
Michael Stewart claims Rangers fan protests could affect players
Rangers fans disrupted the cup clash with Hibernian, as their protests against Martin and Stewart continued into the game, with play paused in the 11th minute.
The Union Bears lifted a banner which read “delaying the inevitable, Martin must go”, and plastic balls were thrown onto the pitch.
Hibernian thought they had taken the lead minutes later, as Martin Boyle finished beyond Jack Butland, but the goal was ruled out for handball, before Nicolas Raskin and Bojan Miovski netted to put Rangers ahead before half-time.
| Matches | 12 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Draws | 5 |
| Losses | 4 |
| Goals | 15 |
| Conceded | 19 |
| Points per game | 1.17 |
| League position | 11th |
Speaking on Premier Sports coverage, former Hibs star Michael Stewart claimed that the protests could affect the players, even if they are not the ones being targeted.
“It’s the general atmosphere; it’s clearly not what the players are wanting, regardless of who is affected or who it is really aimed at. There is a huge air of negativity which affects everybody,” Stewart stated.
Fans divided over Ibrox protests
While there was general support for the protests outside Ibrox before the game, there were mixed reactions on whether the Union Bears should protest inside the ground.
That is because some fans believed that an empty stadium would send a bigger message to Cavenagh, who flew in to attend the game, rather than fans paying for tickets and filling up seats.
The disruption to the game could see Rangers fined, but this also makes the protests impossible to ignore or brush over for Cavenagh or Martin.
Martin has been backed by the Rangers hierarchy so far, but this could change with another poor result in the coming weeks.
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