After yet another Glasgow Rangers defeat, former Scotland and Gers striker Steven Thompson revealed what he noticed about under-pressure Ibrox manager Russell Martin.
Martin "disappointed" by Genk defeat
Last weekend’s Scottish League Cup victory over Hibernian was billed by some as the beginning of a stunning turnaround for Martin, whilst many others assumed it was simply a glimmer of hope. Now, having watched on as his side suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Genk in the Europa League, the pressure is once again increasing on the Rangers manager.
“Have a bit of perspective on tonight and how difficult it was after the red card. Because whether you like it or not, it changes a lot when you are down to 10 men for so long in a game in a European tie. So, learn from it, especially the first half, where we hurt ourselves a little bit and got trapped too much.
“And then get ready to prepare and perform and win on Sunday. I’m disappointed we lose. The red card changed the game a lot. I was looking forward to getting to half-time. We had a few key points across to help the performance.” (Martin on Genk defeat)
The 1-0 defeat means that the Gers have won just four of the 14 games that they’ve played during Martin’s tenure in a record that many around the Ibrox faithful of course deem unacceptable.
It will now be all eyes on Rangers’ trip to Livingston this weekend. Lose that, and they could move as many as 12 points adrift of leaders Celtic and may even move level on points with bottom side Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership. That would surely be that for Martin.
From Loch Lomond trips to endless defeats, there’s been a lot to forget about the manager’s time at Ibrox so far and former Scotland striker Thompson has already noticed one thing from last night’s game.
What Thompson noticed about Martin in Rangers' defeat
Watching on as the manager explained to the press why his side came up short yet again, this time against Genk, Thompson claimed “there was an acceptance” to Martin as the pressure continues to grow. He told BBC Sport:
“There was a lack of energy in Russell Martin’s press conference. You could feel that it was getting to him. There was an acceptance there, he knows he’s under pressure.”
Whilst he has previously stated that he still has the full backing of the 49ers, even Martin may know that the defeats are piling too high now. The big question now centres around his potential replacement if the owners decide to pull the trigger in the coming weeks.
Names such as Steven Gerrard have found themselves in the headlines as a result, and he’s now free to return to management following previous contractual issues with Al-Ettifaq.
If the Gers are looking for a manager who knows how to put a winning side together at Ibrox, then welcoming their last Scottish Premiership winner back to Ibrox wouldn’t exactly be a bad idea.
