Russell Martin and the Rangers revoltShareRangers are suffering their worst start to a season for 47 years and Russell Martin is at the centre of a full-scale supporter revolt.By Graham RuthvenIf Russell Martin was in any doubt about the sentiment of the Rangers support towards him, he now knows. The chorus of boos at full time of Saturday’s home defeat to Hearts was deafening. It would have been even louder had the stadium not been half-empty. Many fans left before the end. Plenty made their minds up on Martin a long time ago.Rangers’ start to the 2025/26 season has been historically bad. Five games into the campaign, Martin’s team is still waiting for their first Scottish Premiership win, making this Rangers’ worst start to a league season for 47 years. On top of this, the Govan outfit were humbled in Champions League qualifying, losing 9-1 on aggregate to Club Brugge.This was meant to be the start of a new era for Rangers. The club welcomed the San Francisco 49ers as new owners over the summer with Martin hired to overhaul the playing style of a team that had finished behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership in 13 of the last 14 seasons.Kevin Thelwell arrived as Rangers’ new sporting director after three years in a similar role at Everton. Former Bolton Wanderers right back Gretar Steinsson also joined as the link between Ibrox and the 49ers ownership group and Rangers embarked on a summer transfer window that ultimately saw the club spend £25m on new players.Thelwell and Steinsson oversaw the appointment of Martin, a manager few Rangers fans wanted in the first place. They saw someone who had struggled to make any sort of impression on the Premier League as Southampton manager and a personality who might struggle to handle the pressure north of the border.In Martin, though, Rangers’ decision-makers saw a coach with a definable style of play who would instil some much-needed principles within the new-look squad. Instead, they only succeeded in bringing someone in who has muddied the ideological waters beyond all comprehension.The idea was that Martin would reshape Rangers as a modern, proactive and possession-orientated side. In recent times, the Govan outfit enjoyed success in Europe, but struggled to translate this into consistent domestic form. Rangers’ squad and approach wasn’t built to break down the sort of low defensive blocks they commonly face in Scotland.Martin was meant to change this. The theory of his appointment might have made some sense, but the reality has been a cold splash of water to the face for everyone at the club. Rangers in their current form aren’t modern, nor are they proactive. They are, however, 10th in a 12th place division.“I don’t think many of them wanted me here in the first place,” said Martin with an air of resignation after the chastening experience of Sunday’s home loss to Hearts. “We have a lot of new guys in there. We have a lot of players trying to feel their way in an environment that’s really difficult to feel their way into. Really, really difficult.“So we just have to make sure they’re alright as human beings first and improve their performance. But there’s anxiety at the moment. The players are not the same team we see in training on Thursday and Friday when they go out and play in this environment right now. And that’s not a criticism of anyone, but we have to just keep working.”Rangers have scored just three goals in five league games. They have drawn a blank in their last three outings in all competitions and haven’t found the back of the net since August. While Rangers have brought in the likes of Bojan Miovski, Thelo Aasgaard and Djeidi Gassama, there’s no coherent attacking plan.Defensively, things are just as messy. Martin wants his backline to play on the halfway line, but Rangers simply don’t have the personnel to operate this way. John Souttar is the best embodiment of this issue. For Scotland, Souttar is a defensive rock, but he is generally positioned 10 yards deeper. For Rangers, he is a liability.Nobody knows how the 49ers will react to the troubles of Martin and his team. Under previous regimes, the 39-year-old might have been sacked by now. As Leeds United owners, though, the 49ers stood by Daniel Farke after a difficult start and were rewarded for this faith when the German coach led the club to the Premier League last season.It’s increasingly difficult, however, to imagine how Martin can possibly follow Farke’s precedent and turn things around. He claims Rangers’ current situation is “not the end of the world,” but the end of his time at the club feels close. Whether that will actually fix anything is less certain.(Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game from Scottish football on FotMob in the 2025/26 season – with in-depth stat coverage, including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.Russell Martin and the Rangers revoltRangers are suffering their worst start to a season for 47 years and Russell Martin is at the centre of a full-scale supporter revolt.By Graham RuthvenIf Russell Martin was in any doubt about the sentiment of the Rangers support towards him, he now knows. The chorus of boos at full time of Saturday’s home defeat to Hearts was deafening. It would have been even louder had the stadium not been half-empty. Many fans left before the end. Plenty made their minds up on Martin a long time ago.Rangers’ start to the 2025/26 season has been historically bad. Five games into the campaign, Martin’s team is still waiting for their first Scottish Premiership win, making this Rangers’ worst start to a league season for 47 years. On top of this, the Govan outfit were humbled in Champions League qualifying, losing 9-1 on aggregate to Club Brugge.This was meant to be the start of a new era for Rangers. The club welcomed the San Francisco 49ers as new owners over the summer with Martin hired to overhaul the playing style of a team that had finished behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership in 13 of the last 14 seasons.Kevin Thelwell arrived as Rangers’ new sporting director after three years in a similar role at Everton. Former Bolton Wanderers right back Gretar Steinsson also joined as the link between Ibrox and the 49ers ownership group and Rangers embarked on a summer transfer window that ultimately saw the club spend £25m on new players.Thelwell and Steinsson oversaw the appointment of Martin, a manager few Rangers fans wanted in the first place. They saw someone who had struggled to make any sort of impression on the Premier League as Southampton manager and a personality who might struggle to handle the pressure north of the border.In Martin, though, Rangers’ decision-makers saw a coach with a definable style of play who would instil some much-needed principles within the new-look squad. Instead, they only succeeded in bringing someone in who has muddied the ideological waters beyond all comprehension.The idea was that Martin would reshape Rangers as a modern, proactive and possession-orientated side. In recent times, the Govan outfit enjoyed success in Europe, but struggled to translate this into consistent domestic form. Rangers’ squad and approach wasn’t built to break down the sort of low defensive blocks they commonly face in Scotland.Martin was meant to change this. The theory of his appointment might have made some sense, but the reality has been a cold splash of water to the face for everyone at the club. Rangers in their current form aren’t modern, nor are they proactive. They are, however, 10th in a 12th place division.“I don’t think many of them wanted me here in the first place,” said Martin with an air of resignation after the chastening experience of Sunday’s home loss to Hearts. “We have a lot of new guys in there. We have a lot of players trying to feel their way in an environment that’s really difficult to feel their way into. Really, really difficult.“So we just have to make sure they’re alright as human beings first and improve their performance. But there’s anxiety at the moment. The players are not the same team we see in training on Thursday and Friday when they go out and play in this environment right now. And that’s not a criticism of anyone, but we have to just keep working.”Rangers have scored just three goals in five league games. They have drawn a blank in their last three outings in all competitions and haven’t found the back of the net since August. While Rangers have brought in the likes of Bojan Miovski, Thelo Aasgaard and Djeidi Gassama, there’s no coherent attacking plan.Defensively, things are just as messy. Martin wants his backline to play on the halfway line, but Rangers simply don’t have the personnel to operate this way. John Souttar is the best embodiment of this issue. For Scotland, Souttar is a defensive rock, but he is generally positioned 10 yards deeper. For Rangers, he is a liability.Nobody knows how the 49ers will react to the troubles of Martin and his team. Under previous regimes, the 39-year-old might have been sacked by now. As Leeds United owners, though, the 49ers stood by Daniel Farke after a difficult start and were rewarded for this faith when the German coach led the club to the Premier League last season.It’s increasingly difficult, however, to imagine how Martin can possibly follow Farke’s precedent and turn things around. He claims Rangers’ current situation is “not the end of the world,” but the end of his time at the club feels close. Whether that will actually fix anything is less certain.(Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game from Scottish football on FotMob in the 2025/26 season – with in-depth stat coverage, including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.