Expert: Rangers owners are now in ‘danger’ after sacking Russell Martin
The Rangers hierarchy are now in a dangerous situation after they made the decision to sack Russell Martin.
Martin was dismissed by the Glasgow giants on Sunday (5 October) evening, after an awful start to the season.
The Gers have won just one of their first seven games in the Scottish Premiership, and are already 11 points adrift of table-topping Hearts.
Rangers’ 1-1 draw with Falkirk was the last straw for the board, who finally pulled the trigger and ended Martin’s disastrous reign.
Rangers board should not have given in to fans
Aberdeen’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Pittodrie between 2000 and 2004, had lengthy spells as the chief of Everton and Aston Villa and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Rangers should’ve stuck with Martin, and that it was dangerous to give in to the supporters.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness insisted that the former Southampton boss should’ve been dismissed for footballing reasons, not fan reasons.
Martin was smuggled out of the ground after Rangers‘ draw away at Falkirk.
Wyness added that things had clearly gone too far for the board and that the situation had become toxic.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “I saw Kevin Thelwell and others being approached in hotels, Russell having to be taken out of the club in a car boot and all that sort of stuff.
“I had that situation once at Aberdeen, where we had to smuggle a manager out in a car boot as well.
“Look, it’s the knee-jerk response, and the trouble is once you give in to the fans, then it becomes rinse and repeat every time. This is what I’ve been trying to counsel against, the owners giving in to the fan pressure.
“But I understand things had gone too far. The manager is that shield for the board and the executive team, and they need a better shield than Russell. He was becoming toxic in that sense.
“Regardless of what was happening on the pitch, it was becoming just too bad off the pitch. I get why it happened, but I still believe they should have stuck with him.
“I still think it’s dangerous to give in because if you had appointed him and you’d seen something in him, then there’s no reason to sack him. It should have been for football reasons, not fan reasons.”
Rangers set to replace Russell Martin
Steven Gerrard has opened talks with the Rangers hierarchy in London and is the current favourite to replace Martin at Ibrox.
The former Liverpool midfielder spent over three years at the club between 2018 and 2021, and was the last manager to win the Scottish Premiership with the Glasgow club.
Gerrard has been out of work since he left Saudi Pro League club Al Ettifaq back in January.
He now looks set for a return to Rangers, less than four years after his departure.
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