BBC pundit predicts Rangers fans could get ‘very, very angry' with Russell Martin's style – even if they're WINNING

Scottish Sun

18-07-2025

RANGERS fans could become ANGRY at Russell Martin's style of play, reckons a top BBC pundit.
The former Scotland international took over as Gers boss this summer and has been steadfast in his belief that he can turn the squad around and mount a challenge on Celtic.
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Russell Martin has been preparing his squad for Panathinaikos
Credit: Willie Vass
Some supporters look at his Southampton team's failures in the Premier League and fear similar problems for the Light Blues in the Scottish Premiership.
Pat Nevin, the former Chelsea and Everton winger who's now a pundit, feels that even if Martin irons out those problems that the Ibrox faithful could become frustrated - because it might seem BORING.
Nevin told Compare.bet: 'Am I thinking Rangers are going to win the title? No, not yet. Because Celtic have got so many advantages over Rangers at the moment.
'But with Russell, what will be intriguing and the thing I'm most interested in is the style.
'Russell's played a certain style which is lovely as long as you're winning. And then you're not winning, fans get very, very, very angry about it.
'And Rangers fans will get angry very quickly if it's not winning.
'They'll get really angry with that system because it looks dull and it looks predictable. But it's very considered. We all know what it is. We've watched it. It didn't work in the Premier League but it did work before.
'But the expectation at Rangers is you don't keep on doing the process when you're 2-0 down to Falkirk.'
Nevin conceded that the uniqueness of the Glasgow means that Martin basically HAS to win the league this season - even though such expectations are unfair.
He said: 'Rangers have got to be winning the league. It is so unfair. Celtic have got so many advantages.
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'Celtic have been in the Champions League for so long. They've got so much more money behind them. They've got that base with the good managers that they've had with Brendan Rodgers and Ange Postecoglou before it. They have got so many more advantages.
'Rangers, they're a big club. They're obviously financially better off than any other club in Scotland apart from Celtic.
'But you're asking so much. They've come back from a long way down, we all know that. But for Russell, in my eyes, if you challenge for the title right up to the end, well done, you deserve another year, mate. Well done.
'Whether the Rangers fans will put up with that, I don't know. But in my eyes that should be good enough to let them build for a couple of years. That's what I think. But that's just not what it's like up here, I'm afraid. It's just not what it is.
'There has been an astonishing amount of change at Rangers. Not just the manager, but the moves out.
'Rangers fans' heads must have been spinning. Really, Leon Balogun and Tom Lawrence, Ianis Hagi and Vaclav Cerny all going. These are players that were playing all the time - gone.
'But they brought a whole bunch of players in as well. Lyall Cameron's come in as well, which is a very interesting one actually. Down south you go, really? Is he that all? Up here that can make a difference. That can make a big difference. So, it's interesting.'
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