LFC Live - Russell Martin on the brink - Five things learned from Rangers' draw with St Mirren

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Credit: Imago/Rangers FC X

Chris Smith

Sun 24 August 2025 14:28, UK

Russell Martin’s miserable start to life as Rangers manager continued with a 1-1 draw away at St.

Mirren that really felt like a defeat.

Russell Martin is under pressure (Credit: Hasan Karim, Breaking Media)

Russell Martin needs a break after his shocking start to life as Rangers manager, but there was none to be found here.

And even then, it took them ramming a square peg into a round hole on set-pieces to finally draw level.

Martin is already cutting a desperate figure on the sidelines in his search for answers as Rangers manager.

A lack of goals has been a real problem for Rangers at the start of this Scottish Premiership season, with the 55-time champions’ only two goals prior to Sunday coming from right-back James Tavernier — one of which was a penalty.

It was just the one goal again on Sunday as teenager Curtis bailed out his teammates and manager.

That seemed an unlikely prospect in the first half, and it’s safe to say Martin’s experiment in fielding Thelo Aasgaard as a striker failed miserably.

Mirren had picked up just one point from their opening two games of the season, failing to score a single goal.

It wasn’t all bad for Rangers, with a point just about salvaged thanks to Findlay Curtis’ 78th-minute equaliser.

There was a stroke of luck, with the strike taking a massive deflection off a St.

The teenager had more touches in the opposition box in 15 minutes (3) than Aasgaard did in 65 (2), while also winning three of his four ground duels.

All of this comes off the back of Curtis scoring against Panathinaikos in the Champions League and Alloa Athletic in the League Cup — showing that even amid a miserable start to the season, Rangers have still found another gem.

Could Curtis be thrown into the Old Firm bear pit from the start next week?

The boos and jeers from the Rangers fans present at SMISA Stadium were audible at half-time, and deafening at full-time — even after Curtis’ equaliser.

But if Martin didn’t like that, he’d better stay away from Rangers’ social media channels today, with fans furious at this latest stalemate.

Many are already calling for the former Saints boss to be sacked, with Martin admittedly needing a serious stroke of luck to turn things around.

Celtic at home next week really could be make or break.