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To make things worse he keeps tossing his hair around to flaunt his follicle virility to us baldies...

I think the reaction from the support has been alarming, especially given the roaring horses arse that's been made over the last few years with our choices. Would I have wanted RM? Probably not. Would I have wanted Ancelotti? Definitely not. Would I have wanted Gerrard? Maybe. At the end of the day, that would appear to have been the choice. The fact that Gerrard appears to have pulled from the race suggests that there will not be the same power base with the manager that he enjoyed and maybe that didn't work for him. We have cried out for a manager that does not treat the likes of Dundee like Real Madrid and who wants to press his opponents hard. That seems to be RM's modus operandi. He could have his very own Mojo moment if he tans the filth in the first OF game. If we have a decent transfer window, this may well yet be a good season. Give him a chance FFS. I'd define his first seasons success requirements as a cup, a real title challenge and EL Groups (and last 16) at a minimum.

I'm not going to respond to the negative posts - you've made up your mind and are entitled to it. I'm delighted with the appointment of Russell Martin. He was one of the names I posted at the very start of this thread. Finally! A coach that has a track record of implementing a progressive, attacking style of play without needing top class players to see results (i.e. MK Dons, Swansea), while developing players. He has demonstrated impressive leadership qualities throughout his career, and has shown in his coaching career how he can manage a squad transition (he managed the turnover of 18 players at the beginning of his Swansea term, and similar at So'ton). He overcame a difficult home environment to make it as a solid player - he himself has always said he was a crap player - and has been thinking about and developing his coaching skills and philosophy since he was a teenager. Even if he turns out to be the guy before the guy, I think he will lay the foundations of a modern playing style and culture for years to come.

Like many I'm uncertain about this but it's also fair to say the process will have been a sound one and the same concerns we have will have been asked and answered in detail. As such, it's now time to welcome Russell and get behind him in what remains a very difficult task.

Kris Boyd compared Martin to Kompany, which I thought was interesting: Promoted with a possession-based philosophy, pumped in the PL, then gets the Bayern Munich job. I don't think it's entirely correct, but it suits my position so I'm taking it.

The way I see it, there are essentially two choices now, either keep moaning about it and set the guy up to fail before he’s even in the door, or accept the decision and at least give it a chance to work. To confirm, I'm not one of the ones who was sold on Russell Martin. There are already plenty of people outside the club who’ll be desperate for us to fail, we don’t need to add to that from within. If the negativity keeps piling up from our own fans, then yeah, chances are he will fail eventually. Whether we like it or not, Martin’s the manager now. He’s here for at least the next few months, like any new appointment. His best shot at making it work is with a bit of backing from the support and to be fair, there are some positives there if folk are willing to look for them, just search for @Rousseau's posts Anyway, now we can get back to the fun bit of complaining about being linked with unheard of players in The Rangers Summer 2025 Transfer Rumours and Deals - Thread

Le Guen: Brilliant. What a coup! Shows how much I (and many others) knew.

I'm a retired trawlerman and whilst my wardrobe contains a bountiful selection of black jumpers (ganzies too Scott!) It does not contain one single gilet !

What/who were some fans wanting? We've been an absolute bombscare of a club on and off the field for the majority of the last 12/13 years. No manager with a huge reputation would come near us. We need to take a risk. I'm not thrilled but I'm not dead against it either. If I'm honest, I'm a wee bit excited. New manager/head coach whatever. New era.

I think it's an absolute woeful appointment. The guy really is a joke. Why would anyone think he has what it takes? I hope to god I'm wrong, but il eat my hat twice over if I am. Absolutely gutted

Cant wait to hear him speak. Been a big fan of his for years. His style will be a perfect fit for us. Myself and @Rousseau will be vindicated here.

Today is day one of a new transfer system designed to revolutionise the development of young Scottish footballers. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c8re4yek5n0o

They threw the league away as much as we won it imo, almost any manager could have taken advantage of that beautiful timplosion.

Success is winning the league. Another good season in Europe, while closing the gap in the league, is a qualified success. Nothing else is of any importance.

The fans at my other clubs never wanted me either. Flipping heck. This fellow is too honest. Not sure I can watch more of this. Who knows what he will share next.

The presser was handled well by all. Time for talking is over let's get recruiting our squad for next season....i'm super excited and cannae wait....mon the gers.

He's going to be good isn't he? Despite all the doubt and my scepticism, the way he spoke and handled the press, was solid. He has the makings of one of those great managers that were shit as players. Spoke very well.

I know there are more important topics for discussion on this thread but a point of order. It's actually a corruption of the Gaelic for jumper or sweater which is geansaidh and pronounced 'genzy'.

Forgive me if I dont watch the clips and footage of him talking a good game. Our last 2 managers both talked a very good game, but we are looking for victories on the park, not talk, and this guy's CV is littered with losses and draws. His football philosophy might be cool and trendy, but his teams have achieved diddly squat. I read most of @Rousseau's comments throughout this thread about his style etc but the one thing that really frightened me is his goals against record which is frankly bloody awful, even in the season he fluked promotion in the playoffs with the 2nd biggest budget and came 4th his GA was over 1.5pg. His teams goals scored record for all this philosophical and tactical mastery isnt very impressive either. The comments from fans of his previous teams say he cant beat a low block and has no plan B, well groundhog day springs to mind. I have never watched any of his teams play so I have no pros or cons from live action so I am purely looking at his record in management and what I have read on here, and I am pretty depressed that this is the level we are now at. At least Ancelotti would have been a blank canvas in terms of record as he hasnt got one, but has coached at a very high level, certainly higher than RM, although if these 2 are all our people could find interested then we really are in the grubber. I feel the same way about this as I did about Beale and Pedro, scared stiff, but I felt the same when McLeish got the job and he done a great job for a few years so that only proves that I know nothing and to wait it out to see with my own eyes how he gets our team to play. If he can change the game when things arent going right and find a way to beat the low block consistently then he will do fine. We move on to recruitment of players, and while I probably wont even have heard of most of the guys we bring in (but i'm sure @Rousseau will fill us in quickly!), but it has to be a very high number to have any chance of success. Good luck to RM, I am desperate for him to do well. I can vent negative thoughts on here, but it will be 100% backing at the games.

I’ve come across a good few trawlermen in my time. No body warmers. Never a gilet. The preferred upper body garb is a muckle woollen ganzie.

I mean desperate and sad I can take, but vegan is a slur too far young man!

I have outlined some initial concerns, but now he is here it is time to look at the positives(like the ones you have highlighted) and back him to succeed. I will also be very consistent from here on in. If it doesn't work out for Martin, I refuse to blame him. We know exactly what he is, what are his strengths, and weaknesses. Its up to the DoF and football ops team to support and enable him. If it doesn't work out, its on them. Not him. If he is successful, they will all deserve credit as a unit.

Christ, we're commenting on the guys dress sense now. Desperate and sad.

It is now the most integral part of the machine. The pressure needs to be 100% on them to enable Martin to succeed. We all know the squad is garbage. Over to them to change it.

100%. The main point for me is that those who interviewed him, and the other candidates are football people. Are we are naive enough to believe they didn't ask the candidates the questions we are asking? The point Josha Barrie makes in the tweet I posted is very telling, RM was introduced as Head Coach rather than Manager. If the support structure behind RM is good and recruitment is good, we may have a chance

Yup, but what can we do? We're stuck now, I'm so disappointed and gutted. It's another season wasted, sorry. Don't care how positive folk wana try be. I'm a realist. Can't wait for my 4 hour drives to watch us have 75% possession and be 1.0 down to Motherwell.

Pretty much exactly my thoughts. Id honestly have had McInnes, Dyche and a few others who always got a groan ahead of him. if He was 3rd of 4th choice then the Board should have ripped it up and started a new search afresh and put interim coaches in place. I cant believe for one second he is the best option out there.

We only need 1 plan - it's whats brought Celtic so.much success over the last 15 years. It's simple - over run SPL jobbers, do that and you've got a great chance of winning the league. Its what SGs team did during 55. It's not rocket science

The guy has never even even got a sniff of any European football in his amazing career. He is a managerial failure. He was lucky to not be sacked the one year he got promotion. Delayed the inevitable until he won 1 in 16. Come on. It's a terrible appointment and you are allowed to admit it

I only see the BBC article you shared.. the guys a failure. He would have been sacked if he didn't win that playoff. 40 million wage budget he had, 2nd highest in the league. Still finished 2 places below Ipswich who had x4 less budget. They also shipped 63 goals. None of this can be sugar coated. We know what happened once they got promotion too. More woefulness

Cheap hire = cheap fire.

From what is being said, DA wanted more input on transfers and wanted a bigger budget. We are looking for a model where the manger / coach only coaches the team. This model has been successful for many clubs. We've been an utter basketcase of a club for 15 years, yet expect new owners to suddenly attract a top class manager. If you listen to Leeds fans they'll tell you they made some very unpopular decisions at Leeds but most turned out to be the right decisions. We just need to hope this trend continues at Rangers.

No goin to get into it over Gerrard , in my eyes and many many more he should have been sacked long before he was allowed to leave , each to their own. This new guy is another disaster of a signing and I dont see us taking the league with this guy. Hopefully I am 100% wrong and he wins the lot.

Gerrard should never have been allowed almost 4 years at the club with one single trophy. We cannot afford to not win the league again as the gap will widen far more than it is now , no matter whos been given the job.

When we win the SPFL next year, we'll be coming back to you for a comment.

Holy moly, he just walked into the Blue Room with trainers on then sat down with his blazer still buttoned.... Someone phone an ambulance for John

Should be a button for BOOOOOOOO.

Win the league and get into the group stage of the CL. While picking up a cup or two. And leathering the rotten mob a few times. That will do for a starter.

I'm more concerned that the players might not get the necessary carb loading from the pre match meal of tofu and mung beans.

I can't decide if you're being serious or if you're being even more sarcastic than I was. Well played either way. For the record I was attempting some levity, I should know better. Desperate and sad is a fair description though, I'm regularly at least one of those things, often both.

This feels like a new low to me. I am not sure I can get behind this to be honest. Of course I will be happy to be proved wrong by a trophy laden season, but right now that feels as likely as a lottery win. Oh, and I don't buy lottery tickets ☹️

Much more importantly every picture of Martin I see he seems to be sporting a black jumper or even a gilet (or body warmer as they were called when I was a youth). This is fine if you're manager of some mid table jobbers in the Bundesliga or an architect in Zurich, but in Govan that's really only acceptable on retired trawler men. Can we expect the shirt and club tie look or at least official training gear to be a thing of the past. I realise I'm sounding more and more like my Dad with every passing day. It's a worry.

Read my numerous, numerous posts on the subject.

Who cares what any of them think about anything. Get back to me in October , its another fuck up.

It'll depend on what budget he gets, but agree that fixing the spine of the team is priority. His style of play is very similar to Rodgers, so that's proven to be successful in Scotland so I can see why this would be attractive to the board. He plays with 2 high / wide full backs which was successful for Gerrard, when Tav & Borna were at their best. However, it's easier and stauncher to ignore all this, pine for a manager who hasn't managed 1 game, and simply scream and shout that Martin is an arse and we will fail before we've even signed a player or kicked a ball.

Sounds right to me as is your analysis of Walter’s stranglehold over celtic - solid defence, hitting on the break with very good players. Rangers defence has become less and less solid and there have been few very good players. (See my previous maunderings passim on Smith v celtic and City v Everybody)

Ultimately, Martin's CV and playing style is a perfect example of what we don’t want. Low block an issue. Defence an issue. Failure at set pieces. Recent managers failed to address these issues and now we seem Hell bent on bringing in another manager who has these blots on his CV. FFS! Add in that he is a 'philosopher' who has never heard of pragmatism, far less empiricism, and who elevates style over substance, and we look done for. Wtf is Matty Gill? And wtf has he done to warrant a job at Rangers?