Credit: Imago

Evan Lloyd

Tue 30 December 2025 7:27, UK

Celtic and Rangers fans were in shock when news emerged on Monday that Russell Martin is in the running to be appointed by MLS side Columbus Crew.

Martin was sacked by Rangers at the start of October, after a tumultuous 17-game tenure at Ibrox.

The former Southampton boss was hired in the summer, but guided his team to just one win from their seven opening Scottish Premiership games.

Rangers hired Danny Rohl to replace Martin, and the German has somewhat turned around their season, although consistency has been hard to find.

Martin was linked with the Kilmarnock job following the sacking of Stuart Kettlewell, but he now looks set to manage outside of Europe.

Celtic and Rangers fans unite in laughter at Russell Martin news

Ben Jacobs reported on Monday night that Martin is a contender for the Columbus Crew job, with other outlets suggesting that the 39-year-old is among the finalists under consideration.

What is already a slightly bizarre move is made even more strange by the man that Martin would be replacing.

Wilfried Nancy left Columbus Crew to take over at Celtic in December, and has endured a difficult start to his tenure in Scotland.

The two managers drew comparisons after the Frenchman led the Bhoys to four consecutive defeats in his opening four games.

But in the last two weeks, Celtic have beaten Aberdeen and Livingston and now look to be finding their feet under Nancy.

Both Celtic and Rangers fans found news of Martin’s next role very funny, and shared their reactions on social media.

“Genuinely couldn’t write it“, one Celtic fan wrote on X. Another said: “You seriously couldn’t make this stuff up.”

A Rangers fan suggested that Columbus Crew were “replacing Russell Martin 2.0 with the original” while another questioned why the MLS side would want “that slow, patient, drawn-out, murderball that is susceptible to counterattacks as the football you want at your club”.

Another fan described Martin’s potential move as “the absolute funniest possible outcome”.

Russell Martin and Wilfried Nancy’s starts compared

After six games of his Rangers tenure, Martin had lost just once, to Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League qualifiers.

Nancy has lost four, although, in fairness, the Frenchman has not benefitted from a pre-season with his squad like Martin did.

Still, the new Celtic boss will be fighting off comparisons to the former Rangers head coach for as long as he does not find consistency at Parkhead.

The previous two wins have been steps in the right direction, but, given the closeness of the race at the top of the Scottish Premiership, consistency is demanded.