There has been an update on the future of Rangers manager Russell Martin’s Ibrox future ahead of Sunday’s Glasgow derby against Celtic.
Martin reacts to Rangers’ “humiliating” Champions League exit
The Gers were knocked out of the Champions League on Wednesday evening after suffering an embarrassing 6-0 defeat to Club Brugge, losing 9-1 on aggregate over the two legs.
Any chance of a Rangers comeback was ended after going a goal and a man down on the evening after less than 10 minutes, with the hosts running riot for the rest of the game.
Martin, asked if he still had belief that he was the right man to take Rangers forward after the game, said:
“Yeah. I don’t think I’ve learned anything new tonight, just really hurt, really embarrassed by the defeat. It’s probably the toughest night I’ve had as head coach/manager. But it doesn’t it doesn’t change the fact that I think we can get this place going, we can get the team going.
“And as I said, progress and move forward and grow and we have an opportunity to really do that, to feel everything tonight that comes our way and accept it, because we have to with a manner of defeat and then we have a chance to really show some character and some growth and some personality and desire on Sunday.”
Sunday sees the Gers face rivals Celtic for the first time in the 2025/26 Scottish Premiership season, with Martin going on to apologise to the supporters.
“There is no message to the players right now. I think we have to just feel the pain. So that is the message. There’s no point in dissecting the game when everyone’s emotions are high. We’ll take a look at it; to the fans I have nothing but an apology.
“I’m really sorry that they had to witness that and it is humiliating, it’s really painful. So I have nothing but disappointment and hurt that they’ve had to go through that. We had such a tough task tonight. The most hurtful thing is we make it so tough for ourselves. We did last Tuesday, we did tonight, so much self-inflicted pain.
“And then our response, because we’re not strong enough as a group yet, our response to a bit of disappointment is just so poor, so poor. So, I understand fans’ frustration, I understand the disappointment, understand their anger, because they love this club and they want to see a team that they’re proud of. So even with 10 men, there wasn’t enough to be proud about tonight. There was nothing to be proud of.”
The speculation regarding Martin’s Ibrox future will only increase after the Champions League defeat, but there has been an update ahead of the Glasgow derby.
Russell Martin sack update from Rangers before Celtic
Football Insider journalist Pete O’Rourke shared an update on Martin’s future at Rangers 24 hours before their defeat to Club Brugge.
Focusing on the game against Celtic, O’Rourke stated that ’Rangers are unlikely to react quickly and sack Martin even if he oversees a defeat’ to the Hoops at Ibrox.
Should the Gers lose to Celtic, Martin’s side will already be nine points behind their fiercest rivals after just four fixtures.
O’Rourke added that ‘the Rangers board will not make any knee-jerk decisions and still have full faith’ in the 39-year-old and that ‘the 49ers Enterprises know that it is a long-term project’.
Games
10
Wins
3
Draws
4
Losses
3
Goals scored
15
Goals conceded
17
Whether or not Rangers’ stance has changed following the humiliating Champions League exit remains to be seen, but by the looks of things, Martin’s job is safe for now regardless of the result on Sunday.