Russell Martin has to hand in Rangers P45 after something Kris Boyd has never seen before
Russell Martin has run out of excuses at Rangers and must surely accept his tenure is over.
Ten-man Rangers were beaten 1-0 by Genk in their opening Europa League match at Ibrox on Thursday.
Mohamad Diomande’s sending-off badly hampered Rangers, as they played more than half the game a man light.
Former Celtic player Oh Hyeon-gyu scored what proved to be the winner 10 minutes into the second half of a far-from-full Ibrox as supporters stayed away.
Kris Boyd slams Rangers defending in Genk defeat
As far as positives go, there were next to none on Thursday night. Martin’s Rangers team selection raised eyebrows and the Gers were clearly second best.
Genk may have been slight favourites to beat Rangers, but every home fan in attendance expected a Gers victory.
As Kris Boyd rightly pointed out live on Sky Sports News (25 September, 9:36pm), Rangers were set up horribly.
Rangers may have been down to 10 men, but even still they were all over the shop. Rather than becoming more compact and sitting back, they left themselves badly exposed time and time again.
“I know Rangers are down to 10 men, but I have never seen a team so easy to play against and get through on goal,” Boyd said.
“They don’t track runners and are wide open. It’s like a hot knife through butter.”
Boyd has never seen a team defend like it, and this is a constant theme under Martin.
Russell Martin’s abysmal Rangers record in full
Martin has now lost five, drawn five and won just four of his 14 matches in charge of Rangers, giving him a win percentage of 28.6 per cent.
| Russell Martin | |
| Games | 14 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Draws | 5 |
| Losses | 5 |
| Win percentage | 28.6% |
It goes without saying that is a terrible return for a Rangers manager, especially when factoring in that the fixtures have not been all that difficult.
Martin has showed absolutely nothing to offer encouragement to fans, and on the basis of this latest lifeless display, it is on the former Southampton boss to hand in his P45.
If Andrew Cavenagh – in attendance at Ibrox on Thursday – does not have it in him to sack Martin, the 39-year-old needs to do the right thing and make his decision for him.
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