BBC Sport pundit in complete disbelief at what he witnessed at Ibrox for Rangers vs Genk
Rangers were beaten by Genk in their opening Europa League fixture as Russell Martin aimed to get his side firing.
Martin and Genk manager Thorsten Fink were both under pressure heading into the clash at Ibrox, with both teams suffering miserable starts to the season.
Rangers fans were furious after a woeful start to the campaign under Martin, and the Union Bears launched vocal protests against the manager.
The Europa League fixture was of little interest to a lot of fans after the dismal start to the season, and many voted with their feet ahead of the 1-0 loss at Ibrox.
Andy Halliday surprised at empty seats at Ibrox
A lot of Rangers fans are already fed up with Martin, and increased prices for Europa League games at Ibrox has certainly not helped.
There were a lot of empty seats at Ibrox for the defeat against Genk, with the ground not even close to a sell out, and a lot of fans refusing to attend the match out of protest.
- A lot of Rangers fans did not buy the Europa League ticket packages.
- There were empty seats in the win over Hibernian, as fans in the ground also protested against Martin and Patrick Stewart.
Former Rangers star Andy Halliday could not believe just how many seats were left empty, and expressed his surprise before the game.
“I can’t believe it. I was expecting a flickering of empty seats, but we’ve seen the pictures and I honestly can’t believe how many empty seats there are,” he told the BBC before kick-off.
Andrew Cavenagh needs to take note of empty seats
If Rangers continue to falter under Martin, the empty seats will only increase, and this will lead to a loss in revenue for the club.
Andrew Cavenagh has backed Martin so far, but the Rangers chairman will be well aware that a disgruntled fanbase could hit the club’s finances.
Rangers have got it wrong with Martin, and also got it wrong with the pricing for the Europa League, meaning that empty seats were inevitable, but the potential is there for this to get a lot worse.
The defeat was marred by several controversial refereeing decisions, but it is clear that Rangers fans have reached their limit with Martin, and there were heavy boos at full time as they fell to another home defeat.
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