How Martin’s Rangers reign fell apart in 123 days

Russell Martin told Ibrox supporters who were skeptical that he could discredit them at the start of his Rangers’ reign.

It is all over 123 turbulent and difficult days later.

After being humiliated in Champions League qualifying, the 39-year-old quit as head coach with only one win in the Scottish Premiership and eighth place in the current league,

The former Scotland and Rangers defender’s final game was a 1-1 draw with Falkirk on Sunday, with only five of his 17 starts in charge.

Following the announcement of a takeover from a US-based consortium in May, Rangers fans were in a state of euphoria.

Next on the list of things to do after appointing technical director Dan Purdy and sporting director Kevin Thelwell was appointing a new head coach.

When it was revealed in June that Martin would take that position, a sizable portion of the support were underwhelmed.

Following a difficult spell in the Premier League, the former MK Dons and Swansea City manager had been fired by Southampton six months prior.

At his unveiling, Martin reaffirmed his commitment to reassure the doubters by saying, “I have a lot to prove.” However, my entire career has been based on disproving people.

Following a significant change in the playing squad, Martin made a strong start in their Champions League second-round match against Panathinaikos, who had to be 10-man.

Despite winning by 2-0, Rangers looked completely unconvincing for lengthy periods, and Martin’s men’s giving of chance after chance was a similar tale in the away leg of Greece.

Rangers showed no signs of improvement during their first league appearance at Fir Park.

The real drama occurred when Martin publicly unloaded his team after the game, which was a win for them and a point in a thrilling 1-1 draw for Lanarkshire.

In a remarkable post-game reaction, the head coach lambasted his players’ egos, efforts, and mentality.

The next match, an impressive 3-0 victory over Viktoria Plzen in the Champions third-round qualifier, saw captain James Tavernier and influential midfielder Nicolas Raskin both lose.

Under Martin, both players would feature again, with Tavernier coming off the bench to earn a point against Dundee in the following league game.

Martin appeared to have issues with other players as well, Raskin included.

The former Swansea manager claimed striker Hamza Igamane claimed he was injured and refused to come off the bench in Paisley following another underwhelming Premiership draw at St Mirren.

That came just days after Rangers’ disastrous opening 20 minutes at home to Club Brugge in Champions League qualifying had been lost 3-1.

After defeating Plzen, Rangers had already advanced to the play-off round, but a 4-2 overall victory over Martin’s team, who faced 27 shots in their 2-1 second-leg defeat to the Czech side, was marred by significant flaws in the team.

In a 4-2 victory over third-tier Alloa Athletic before the first-leg defeat to Brugge, Martin’s men also conceded twice at home to third-tier Alloa Athletic.

But the Belgian club’s 3-1 defeat at Ibrox was nothing more than what came next in the away leg.

Ten-man Rangers were five points clear at the break, falling to 9-1 on the aggregate and falling to 6-6 on the night.

After a humiliating Champions League play-off exit, fans were outraged, and Martin vowed to carry on as Rangers manager.

The head coach had some hope despite playing his fourth straight league game without winning. Their goalless draw with Old Firm rivals Celtic gave him hope.

However, it turned out to be false.

High-flying Hearts won their next game with a 2-0 victory at Ibrox, with even a passing League Cup quarter-final victory over Hibs unable to stop the rumblings of discontent with more angry fans protesting their performance.

Martin became more and more agitated after losing to a bang average Genk at home in the Europa League.

Even the Rangers hierarchy had not made their minds by this point, a significant portion of fans had. On Sunday, a 90-minute winner overtook newly promoted Livingston.

So it was a midweek defeat at Sturm Graz, with footage from fans confronting the club’s managers on social media painting a somber picture of their situation.

There was no way back by the time Sunday’s equalizing from Falkirk’s Henry Cartwright was over. Or forward, as in the case of the post-game Rangers team bus.