Russell Martin: His Managerial Career & What Rangers Fans Can Expect
Kai Watson 
On Thursday 5th June, having been well-backed at online betting sites, former Scotland international Russell Martin was announced to be Phillipe Clement’s successor at Rangers.
He becomes the 20th permanent Manager (although announced as ‘Head Coach’) in the clubs history and becomes another one who was previously a player having been at Ibrox for six-months in 2018.
Our resident Scottish football expert, Kai Watson, takes a closer look at what Rangers fans can expect under Martin.
It seemed to come down between the ex-Southampton boss and Davide Ancelotti as the final two in the managerial race but Martin seemed to pull ahead by really impressing in his interview. Rangers CEO Patrick Stewart had this to say to the official Rangers website on the appointment;
“Our criteria for our next coach were clear: we wanted a coach who will excel in terms of how we want to play, improve our culture, develop our squad, and ultimately win matches. Russell was the standout candidate.
This appointment is about building a winning team and a strong culture. He is no stranger to our club, we expect success and Russell knows that. We are excited for his leadership.”
Not having a style of play or a clear philosophy is something which Rangers fans have bemoaned in recent years. There’s been a lot of ‘square pegs in round holes’ for not only managers but players and that has caused the club to fall far behind Celtic domestically.
Having a competent board and sorting out a philosophy both on and off the pitch has been needed since the last time Rangers won the league title. That being said, fan sentiment across social media wasn’t exactly positive, although, after the press conference and his first interview with the club, it’s a bit more positive.
The new Rangers boss speaks really well and has said all the right things in terms of wanting to press high, control the ball and hard worker than any other team. The words are the easy part though and he will be judged on his ability to actually implement his philosophy on the playing squad.
Russell Martin: The Manager
So, what can Rangers fans expect from their new boss? He went to MK Dons as his playing career was winding down and in November 2019 Paul Tisdale was sacked from the managerial position, which led to chairman Pete Winkleman wanting to speak to Martin. Much to the Scotsman’s surprise, he was then offered the chance to succeed Tisdale in what would be his first role in management. He then subsequently retired from playing to put full focus into his new career as a manager.
His first season in charge ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and it wasn’t until the next season he really started showing what he was about. He, alongside assistant Luke Williams, managed to instil their style of play which was aggressive in the press and heavily possession-based. This earned them plaudits not only across the English Football League but all across Europe also.
In fact, only Barcelona and Manchester City, in Europe, averaged more possession than his MK Dons side by the end of the 20/21 season. This style also led to a goal being scored after a 56-pass move which, at the time, was a British record, a remarkable achievement. Another stand out stat was that they managed to have the most touches in the box compared to other League One sides. That being said, despite the credit gained for the style, the Dons finished 13th in League One that season.
His style and philosophy alerted Swansea though and they requested permission to speak to him in the July of the 21/22 season and he subsequently became the manager shortly after. His style stayed exactly the same as it was at MK Dons and brought about some incredible and memorable results.
In his first South Wales derby he hammed Cardiff 3-0 then in the reverse fixture won 4-0, an incredible 7-0 aggregate score over both fixtures. With those victories, he became the first manager to complete a league double in 100-year history of the fixture. To make it even better, he won both fixtures the following season too, making history by being the first manager to ever win four derbies in a row.
In his first season in Wales, he led Swansea to a 15th placed finish but managed to finish 10th the following season. He’s spoken previously about how dramatically the budgets were cut over both seasons, so even if they don’t seem like incredible results on the surface, given what he had to deal with, it was another impressive spell.
So impressive, in fact, that in June 2023, Southampton appointed him as their new manager in their quest to get back to the English Premier League. In his first game he broke a nine-year record in which Southampton had lost every single opening day for the previous nine-seasons by beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1. He also broke another record that day, Southampton made 477 successful passes in the first-half, an English Championship record.
He then broke a club record between September 2023-February 2024 when the Saints when on a 25 game unbeaten run. They finished 4th in the league in the 23/24 season but managed to gain promotion through the Play-Offs. To the surprise of many, Martin led his side to a 1-0 victory over favourites Leeds and got Southampton back in the English Premier League.
Unfortunately the season back in the top-flight didn’t go as planned and he was sacked in December 2024 and Southampton then set a record for the club to be relegated the earliest when it was confirmed on the 7th April.
With Rangers though, the expectation is completely different and will be a much more similar experience to what he had with Southampton in the Championship. The fans expect results and expect them now so he’ll be under instant pressure to not only show his style but also make sure victories come along with it.
Rangers fans have yearned for a manager to come in that will play attacking football, control the ball and press the opposition high and that’s exactly what Russell Martin’s side will do. He’s also helped to improve players at his previous sides and got the best out of them. One of the best examples would be Adam Armstrong in the Championship.
He used him more as a right winger than a centre forward and he ended the season with 24G/13A in 49 Championship appearances, a truly incredible return and he looked back to his best. If he could produce something similar with someone like Hamza Igamane then Rangers could be in for a successful season.
It will be interesting to see who stays and who goes but this current Rangers squad isn’t built for the high intensity style that Martin is looking to provide. Recruitment is now the most important thing for Rangers going forward and it could be an exciting summer ahead for the fans.
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