Rangers sack Martin after 17 games

Russell Martin has been sacked as Rangers head coach after 17 games, with the club saying "while all transition periods require some time, results have not met expectations".

The 39-year-old's final match was the 1-1 draw at Falkirk on Sunday, following which he was given a police escort away from the stadium after fans tried to stop the team bus leaving.

Martin had faced mounting criticism and protests from Ibrox supporters amid a poor start to the season.

It took Rangers until late September to win in the Scottish Premiership and the club were humiliated 9-1 on aggregate by Club Brugge in the Champions League play-offs in August.

As the domestic season enters its second international break, Rangers are eighth in the Premiership and trail leaders Hearts by 11 points.

Martin, who was appointed on a three-year contract in June by Rangers' new American owners, won just one of his seven league matches, drawing five, and departs with five victories in all competitions.

Assistant Matt Gill and first-team coach Mike Williamson will also exit.

Rangers' statement added: "Russell and his staff have worked exceptionally hard throughout their time at the club. We thank them for their efforts and wish them well for the future.

"Further updates from the club will follow in due course."

Rangers seek fourth manager of 2025

When appointed, former MK Dons, Swansea City and Southampton manager Martin seemingly beat Davide Ancelotti to the Ibrox job, with the Italian coach subsequently joining Botafogo.

Upon being announced as head coach, Martin said "winning is how you convince people" and promised his team would be "all in to make his club and this team better".

Chief executive Patrick Stewart said the club had been looking for "a clear football style and identity" and that "success" was expected.

Now Rangers are seeking their fourth manager of 2025.

Philippe Clement started the year overseeing a 3-0 win over Celtic but poor domestic results thereafter, including a Scottish Cup defeat at home by second-tier Queen's Park, eventually put paid to the Belgian's time in charge.

Stewart and Rangers turned to former captain Barry Ferguson to lead the team for the rest of the 2024-25 season.

The qualification for one-time Rangers defender Martin getting the newly rebranded head coach job seemed to be his achievement in getting Southampton promoted to the Premier League via the play-offs in 2024.

However, Saints only won once in the English top flight under Martin and Rangers fans were underwhelmed by his appointment.

With Kevin Thelwell also arriving at Ibrox in the summer as sporting director, a significant overhaul of the squad took place.

Rangers shopped primarily in the English market, including the signing of four players on loan and the eyebrow-raising £8m purchase of Everton forward Youssef Chermiti. Thelwell stated there had been a net spend of about £20m.

Leaving the club were forwards Cyriel Dessers and Hamza Igamane, who scored a combined 45 goals last term, with Igamane making headlines after Martin said the striker had refused to come on as a substitute in a draw with St Mirren.

Whoever is appointed next at Rangers inherits a team bereft of confidence with their defence in particular struggling to contain opponents for most of the season so far and scoring also a problem.

However, in Jack Butland, John Souttar, Derek Cornelius, Mohamed Diomande, Nicolas Raskin, Thelo Aasgaard and Bojan Miovski, there is a nucleus of international players available.