Rangers break with noble tradition as Russell Martin shows substance and style - but no crush barriers needed

Normally when clubs elect to install a former player as manager they stand accused of supporter-pleasing sentimentality. Not in this case. Rangers have turned to a Rangers man and it was all a bit, well, really – is this it? Three supporters lingered around the front entrance as news emerged that Russell Martin would be unveiled as the club’s 20th permanent manager - or is it first head coach? - at 11am. Someone drove past and beeped their horn.

It was very different to the last time Rangers appointed a manager in the summer. It was then deemed necessary to open the main stand enclosure to accommodate the 7,000 interested fans who turned up to welcome Steven Gerrard seven years ago. Police had to quickly block off the road outside Ibrox.

Of course, there are Rangers men and Rangers men. Barry Ferguson was A Rangers Man. Russell Martin, by his own admission, drifted in and then out of Ibrox between stints at Norwich City and, er, Walsall. His final appearance, a 5-5 draw against Hibs, might have been memorable but the rest of the half season he spent there, not so much.

Martin scored once in a 2-0 win against Hearts when he turned in a cross from Daniel Candeias (remember him?) at the far post. Otherwise, a Rangers fans tells me his most notable contribution was an inadvertent assist for Callum McGregor to score in a 4-0 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic. Martin’s record in two Old Firm matches was: Rangers 0 Celtic 9.

Clearly this must improve under the club’s new American owners. As it stands Rangers are what they were in Martin’s time as a player at Ibrox: a poor second. Maybe, just maybe, someone who has always made the best of himself, who wasn’t a superbly talented player but still managed to win 29 caps for Scotland and compete in the Premier League with Norwich, is exactly what the Ibrox club needs at this time.

The Rangers outsiders looking in

They’ve done showy, glitzy appointment in Gerrard, they’ve gone down the intense foreign coach road with Phillipe Clement. They’ve even done the ‘he was the brains behind the showy, glitzy appointment’ before it became clear Michael Beale hadn’t been Gerrard’s tactical mentor after all. Even when Rangers looked to have got things right, with Giovanni van Bronckhorst, they said to hang with patience and sacked him.

All these men had their own qualities, of course, and, in the case of Gerrard, he would have been welcomed back. Indeed, it was impossible to observe the club’s latest managerial unveiling without thinking of Gerrard and, to a certain extent, Barry Ferguson. It would have been easy to imagine Ferguson’s sad face peering in through a window if the press conference hadn’t been taking place in a windowless room. Of course, it could have been him in Martin’s seat if it wasn’t for pesky Motherwell, St Mirren, Hibs etc etc.

As for Gerrard, well, a significant number of fans will still wish it was him in the seat. Martin was alert to this. “There's always some names in football management that are always a bit more exciting than others, of course,” the 39-year-old said. He explained that he’d never been the favoured choice at any of the clubs where he’d been manager. He went from player to manager at MK Dons, which, he said, “was a bit of a surprise to the supporters”. At Swansea, they’d just lost a play-off final with the budget being cut as a result and he wasn’t seen as the answer. Finally, at Southampton, much bigger names than his had been linked to the post. “And then I got it,” he said.

Much the same could be said of his latest career move. Rangers did something they don’t often do - they broke with a noble tradition. Normally they hold manager unveiling press conference in the wonderful Blue Room, scene of such cramped but unforgettable moments as Graeme Souness walking in through a door opened by secretary Campbell Ogilvie in 1986. It’s where Gerrard had looked up at the mural depicting great Rangers managers, including Souness, Walter Smith and Jock Wallace, on the wall before issuing his “let’s go!” manifesto.

For this latest unveiling, we were directed to the far less atmospheric media room. It didn’t feel as inspiring, although Martin did his best. Lantern jawed, artfully parted dark hair, sculpted beard, it might have been an announcement to introduce the new face of Dolce and Gabbana. But there’s clearly substance to him as well as style.

New Sporting Director Kevin Thelwell sat nodding next to him as Martin explained how he wanted to play. Much has been said about his belief in a passing style of football, not all of it complimentary. His outlook, he tried to clarify, is based on “courage and intensity”. The courage, he said, applied to players willing to take the ball in the final third and expressing themselves. It all sounded very credible and persuasive. A Rangers supporting pal texted: “His point about courage to be brave in front of 50,000 was spot on – that has been our fatal flaw (along with all the other ones!) over the past 3-4 seasons.”

Martin is a bit different

Patrick Stewart, the Rangers chief executive, described Martin as “the standout candidate” as he sought to make clear that he was the No 1 choice, despite all the other names linked.

Martin’s clearly a bit different. He dropped English literature at A level while at school because he had a disagreement with his teacher over an interpretation of Wuthering Heights. Welcome, then to Ibrox, where contentious issues include Rangers’ very own Heathcliff figure. What to do with brooding, divisive skipper James Tavernier?

All will be revealed in this next intriguing chapter of Rangers Football Club. Lack of fanfare might well prove to be a good thing.