Rangers chiefs deliver their verdict to Russell Martin after Club Brugge collapse
Russell Martin’s immediate future as Rangers head-coach has been decided following his side’s crushing defeat to Club Brugge in the Champions League play-offs.
Martin‘s tenure has started poorly with the Gers now out of the Champions League and sitting seventh in the Scottish Premiership ahead of an Old Firm derby against Celtic this weekend.
His side suffered a damaging 6-0 loss to Brugge on Wednesday (27 July), with an aggregate defeat of 9-1 causing many Rangers fans to call for Martin’s head on social media.
Former scout Mick Brown has told Football Insider that Martin is facing growing pressure on his position at Rangers after winning just three of his first 10 games in charge, which is the worst record of any manager in the club’s history in that time-frame.
He is clearly under huge pressure to turn things around as quickly as possible before it is too late, and he is set to get the chance to put things right in a huge clash against their arch-rivals.
Rangers chiefs will not sack Russell Martin before they take on Celtic
The Scottish Sun (28 August) have reported that Martin will take charge of Rangers against Celtic on Sunday (31 August), as senior club bosses have told him that his job is safe “for now.”
He insisted after the Brugge game that he still had the full support of CEO Patrick Stewart and director of football Kevin Thelwell, saying: “Patrick and Kevin, I’ve had a chat with them already and they are amazingly supportive. They understand this may take time. They knew that before we came in.”
Football Insider also revealed prior to that defeat that Rangers are unlikely to sack Martin even if they lose against Celtic, so it looks as if he will be staying in position at Ibrox for the foreseeable future.
Rangers’ Russell Martin verdict may change if they are humiliated against Celtic
Football Insider verdict
It would certainly be a shock to see Martin relieved of his duties this early on in his Rangers tenure, but the board would surely have to act if they are beaten heavily at home to Celtic on Sunday.
Their arch-rivals have endured a somewhat similarly poor start to the new campaign, particularly in European competition, after they beaten on penalties by huge underdogs Kairat on Tuesday to also miss out on the Champions League league stage.
| Rangers’ last five results vs Celtic | Month and Year |
| D 1-1 | May 2025 |
| W 3-2 | March 2025 |
| W 3-0 | January 2025 |
| D 3-3 | December 2024 |
| L 3-0 | September 2024 |
Rangers’ chiefs will not want to be seen to be going backwards under Martin, even if that is already pretty apparent from their poor start to the season, but a big loss to the Hoops would certainly signify that more than anything else, considering they are unbeaten in the last four meetings between the pair and won two of those.
Despite their backing, any kind of humiliation or late defeat against Celtic will surely result in him being sacked, and it almost seems pointless to wait for that to potentially happen, with many fans already past the point of no return in terms of wanting him gone.