'End the madness' - Rangers fans erupt over Russell Martin sack after Club Brugge embarrassment
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Credit: Imago, Getty
Oliver Walton
Thu 28 August 2025 10:59, UK
Rangers fans have been unanimous in their verdict of Russell Martin’s future at the club after their Champions League play-off thrashing at the hands of Club Brugge.
Rangers headed into their second-leg in Belgium on Wednesday (27 August) with little hope of a fight-back after Club Brugge dominated the first-leg at Ibrox and came away with a 3-1 lead.
They would have expected some kind of reaction from their players, however, yet they were a goal and a man down inside the first eight minutes, and therein began one of the most humiliating nights in the club’s recent history.
Brugge ran away with the game and were 5-0 up at half-time, and Christos Tzolis added another in the second period as it finished 6-0 to the hosts and 9-1 on aggregate, with Rangers now resigned to a place in the Europa League.
Russell Martin has overseen a seriously poor start to the new season after he was appointed in June, and most Gers supporters have already seen more than enough after just 10 competitive games with him at the helm.
Credit: Imago
Martin has now won just three times in his first 10 games at Ibrox, which is the worst start in that time-frame of any manager in the club’s history, but he insisted after Wednesday’s game that he still retains the owners’ backing, saying: “Patrick [Stewart] and Kevin [Thelwell], I’ve had a chat with them already, they’re amazingly supportive.
They knew this would take time, they understand the club’s position.”
The Gers’ completely capitulated in Belgium, and anti-Martin chants could be heard from the away end on a dismal night for all connected to the club.
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His job does not get any easier, with the first Glasgow derby of the season against Celtic coming up on Sunday (31 August), while Rangers then take on second-placed Hearts and third-placed Hibernian in the two games after that.
Many fans of the Ibrox outfit have already seen enough from his side to suggest that he does not deserve any more time in charge to try and turn it around, with one fan replying to the club’s full-time tweet against Brugge to say: “End the madness, end it now,” while another said: “Act swiftly and end it.