Why can’t Martin’s Rangers win football matches?

Five league games, zero wins and 10th in the 12-team Scottish Premiership, Neil McCann’s assessment that “a lot of things are going wrong at the minute” at Rangers is an accurate one.

With the Ibrox side’s latest dismal display – a first defeat at home to Hearts since 2014 – Russell Martin became the first Rangers head coach to fail to win any of his first five league games in 47 years.

Former winger and assistant manager McCann labelled Rangers “ragged” as they conceded two goals and drew yet another blank.

Captain James Tavernier said his team-mates were “ashamed” of the performance and it was “embarrassing” to lose in the manner they did.

Martin said there is “a lot of anxiety” among his players.

Bold and brave since the moment he walked into the Blue Room, Martin has never hidden his desire for a high-risk approach.

But with only two European qualifying wins and a narrow victory over Alloa Athletic in the Premier Sports Cup, there’s not much to show for it.

Highlighted on Sportscene was an incident where Scotland defender John Souttar received the ball from goalkeeper Jack Butland and had virtually “zero options” ahead of him, according to McCann.

On-loan Brentford left-back Jayden Meghoma vanished up the flank, but five Hearts players attackers were on the prowl, ready to pounce, forcing on-loan Tottenham Hotspur winger Mikey Moore to drop deep and lend a hand.

Though that particular incident didn’t lead to a goal but a Hearts corner, Lawrence Shankland’s opener came from a similar situation where Tavernier’s slack pass in the attacking third was intercepted.

Martin warned there would be pain before gain with his style, especially with the existing players at the club who were a bit battered and bruised.

However, on Saturday six starters were his own signings, as were four substitutes.

“There is a lot of anxiety, a lot of difficulty managing expectation,” Martin told BBC Scotland. “We have so many players trying to feel their way into their Rangers career in a really difficult situation.

“There’s so much change, so many new players. They are coming into an environment that’s really unique that they wouldn’t have felt before. So we have to try to help them through that.

“We are not coming into a club that has been winning a lot and that has strong foundations.

Amid all the alarming numbers pouring out of Rangers just now, the three league goals they’ve scored have somewhat slid under the radar.

Steven Pressley’s Dundee have the same tally, while basement side Aberdeen are the only team worse off with no goals in four games.

Of Rangers’ three goals, none have come from open play.

The late equaliser against Dundee was a Tavernier penalty while the other two – via the captain against Motherwell and Findlay Curtis against St Mirren – were from corners.

Following the summer sales of Cyriel Dessers – who netted 29 times last term – and 16-goal striker Hamza Igamane, Rangers recruited proven Premiership goalscorer Bojan Miovski and teenage forward Youssef Chermiti – who hasn’t scored in 28 months.

Thelo Aasgaard, fresh from scoring four for Norway on international duty, denied Rangers an equaliser through Derek Cornelius as the midfielder was ruled to have fouled goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow on an afternoon when Martin said they should have scored.

But that’s now two games in a row when they haven’t.

Against Celtic in the game before, there were no shots on target. It is something which gives fans “ammunition” to say “we’ve seen enough”, added McCann.

But there is a widespread belief Rangers would be better equipped in front of goal if the long-running Nicolas Raskin saga can be settled.

With the ability to create something out of nothing, Raskin’s raw talent and tenaciousness is a glaring omission in the Rangers ranks.

He notched up eight of his 10 assists last season from open play.

“Big changes need to happen and I’m not alluding to the manager necessarily, but they need clear the air talks with Nico Raskin and to get him back in the team and get it put to bed,” former Rangers forward Rory Loy said on BBC Sportsound.

“They maybe don’t win this game with him in the side but they’re certainly much better.

“The two weeks Russell Martin has had on the training pitch [during the international break], they look like they’ve got worse.

Without a magic, mystic ball, no-one knows if Martin might change his approach. But many would guess no.

Throughout his relatively short managerial career, Martin has rarely, if ever, wavered.

When his possession-based style took Southampton up to the Premier League via the play-offs last season, he said it would be “illogical” to turn his back on his principles.

Following 13 defeats in 16 top-flight games, he was sacked as the methodology ultimately backfired with a squad lacking in Premier League experience.

At the time of his exit – 15 December 2024 – three grim stats stood out:

Though Martin appears to have the backing of the Rangers board, McCann believed the boss looked “uncomfortable” at the full-time whistle on Saturday and there “was almost a resignation” when the fans were venting their fury.

“I know he’s not one for walking away, but when the fans show their disdain and their real displeasure like that, then it’s really difficult to come through it,” McCann said.

“He would have to go on an enormous run to turn that fanbase because they demand better.”

A home League Cup quarter-final with Hibernian on Saturday (17:45 BST) comes next before the Europa League league phase kicks off against Genk (Thursday, 25 September, 20:00).

By the time Rangers return to domestic league duties – at Livingston on Sunday, 28 September – they could be bottom of the table, should Aberdeen and Dundee pick up wins and rack up some goals the day before.

That seems unfathomable.