Russell Martin’s tough start to life as Rangers head coach plumbed new depths after his side were embarrassingly dispatched 6-0 by Club Brugge in the second leg of their Champions League play-off tie.
Martin’s side faced an uphill battle to turn the tie around having lost 3-1 in the first leg at Ibrox, but things only got worse inside the opening 10 minutes as Nicolo Tresoldi opened the floodgates before Max Aarons was shown a straight red card.
From there, it was one-way traffic at the highest order. Hans Vanaken, Aleksandar Stankovic and a double from Joaquin Seys made it 5-0 as the two teams entered the break before Christos Tzolis added the sixth five minutes into the second half.
Martin’s men registered just one shot on target across the ninety minutes, despite the manager’s call to play an attacking line-up and calls for his players to show ‘real courage’ before the start of proceedings. If courage was what he wanted, cowardice was instead what was delivered as Rangers managed to one-up Celtic’s embarrassing elimination the night prior, just days before the two meet in the first Old Firm clash of the season.
Boyd: Difficult to see how Martin survives
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Kris Boyd hilariously replaces himself in the Sky Sports studio with a cardboard cut-out during Rangers’ disastrous game against Club Brugge
Sky Sports’ Kris Boyd:
“You’ve just got to laugh because if you don’t, you’ll cry.”
“There are ways to lose football matches but this is absolutely pathetic. I know Rangers are down to 10 men, but this is embarrassing. Rangers’ defending is absolutely terrible. It’s an absolute disgrace. Just lack of defending.
“You speak about performances that could get managers the sack – this is heading in that direction.I will struggle to see a way back for Russell Martin after this.”
“Rangers have only got Club Brugge to thank for it being six. They took their foot off the gas and toyed with Rangers.
“There will be an investigation into this. So bad, so, so bad. It looks like a group that has absolutely chucked it.
“Inside just weeks of a new manager coming in, it’s worrying.
“I know a few people said – myself included – that Russell Martin wouldn’t lose his job off the back of a Champions League defeat. Because there’s no disgrace in losing to Club Brugge.
“But the way Rangers have lost – there will be a lot of Rangers fans wanting Russell Martin removed.
“I don’t disagree [that he needs more time]. That’s football – but it’s totally different in Glasgow. If you’re losing 9-1 to a team in the Champions League, it’s bad enough.
“You can say you’re going to be given time – with new owners coming in that’s what they will look to do. But you have to see signs of improvement and that’s not been the case.”
What’s next for Rangers?
Sunday 31st August 11:00am
Kick off 12:00pm
Up next for Russell Martin and Rangers is the first Old Firm derby of the season as they host Celtic at Ibrox this Sunday.
They go into the game trailing their rivals by six points in the Scottish Premiership. You can watch the game live on Sky Sports on Sky Sports Football, with kick-off at 12 noon.