Russell Martin: Rangers head coach on board backing, growing fan frustation and ‘time to build and win’ | Football News

“We have time to build and win and claw our way back.”

Rangers head coach Russell Martin has told Sky Sports News he remains confident results will come as he refuses to listen to the growing anger from the supporters.

He has won four times in 14 games since he took over in the summer, and the fans chanted against him again on Thursday night as Rangers lost 1-0 to Genk in the Europa League.

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Rangers are without a victory in the Premiership this season and sit 11th ahead of Sunday’s game at Livingston, live on Sky Sports.

“If you’re a football manager now, your job’s under threat wherever you work, all the time. Such is the world and such is the industry, it’s brutal,” he said.

“Genuinely, if we were doing brilliantly, I wouldn’t listen to the outside noise. If we’re doing not very well, I don’t listen to it because I think you can get caught up in all of it. I would always treat it the same.

“If people are praising you and liking what you do from the outside, when people don’t see it, it’s really difficult.

“So as long as I feel in here, the staff, the players, the supporting team around all of it, as long as I feel they’re here, they’re with us, we’re together, which I really feel, then I’ll be happy and I’ll really trust that we have a good process and good people, the outcome will follow.”

Rangers have made their worst start to a league campaign since 1978 and the fans protested outside Ibrox before last weekend’s League Cup win against Hibs, calling on both Martin and chief executive Patrick Stewart to be sacked.

“We want to be at the top of the table at the end of the season. If you leave it too much longer, you’ll start running out of games,” the former Scotland defender added.

“We have time, it’s really early on in the season, we have time to build and win and claw our way back.

“We have to be really hungry and start hunting the top and really start making the points difference up. It has to start and it has to start on Sunday.”

‘Honest conversation’ with chairman

Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh watched their win against Hibs and was back at Ibrox for the defeat to Genk.

Martin spoke to the major shareholder after both matches and insists he feels fully supported.

“The media love making it out as if every one is a big conversation about is he going, is he staying, what’s being said,” he continued.

“But generally we chat about the football club, about what we can improve, about the performance, about the next game. It’s always the same.

“It’s never just me and Andrew. It’s me and my staff, Kevin [Thelwell], Patrick, all the guys in there. We have good conversation, honest conversation and it was the same again.

“There’s nothing out of the ordinary with that.

“Whilst everyone is probably feeling a bit frustrated and all that stuff, I think there’s an acceptance that as people that have run football clubs and sports teams for a very long time, that sometimes things can take a bit of time to change and to get to where you want to get to.

“It’s not always going to happen overnight.

“But we’re all frustrated. Everyone’s feeling it. Whilst the fans are feeling it, we’re inside the building, we’re feeling it more than anyone.

“Everyone’s been really together, really stuck together through this period. And like I said, if we can get through that period, which I really believe we will, we’ll be so much better for it.”

Boyd: Rangers have no option but to start new manager search

Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd on Sky Sports News:

“Andrew Cavenagh, the Rangers chairman, was at Ibrox [on Thursday] and with the chorus of boos at the end from the fans that were still there, he will now understand what’s been going on now for a number of weeks.

“He has experienced Rangers playing in Europe and seen and heard what European nights can be at Ibrox and on the road, but he’s got to be sitting asking himself if this is what he wants as a Rangers chairman because it seems there’s a whole disconnect from the club.

“The fans have totally finished, they feel as if it’s time up anyway.

“I think Patrick Stewart will have a lot of questions to answer now as well. The Rangers fans already turned on him with the protests at the weekend and now Rangers are going into a period where the next three games are away from home and it’s not going to get any easier.

“A lot of Rangers fans were expecting it [Russell Martin’s sacking] to be after the Hearts game because of the negativity that was there.

“Rangers backed their manager and, because it’s the start of a new project you don’t want to seem to be giving up straight away, but looking at it right now there is no other option than to start looking for not only a new manager, but I think the recruitment needs an overhaul at Rangers.

“Ultimately the Rangers manager Russell Martin will be the one that ends up paying the price for it but, for me, there’s other people at the football club that need to be held accountable as well because right now the disconnect from the stands onto the pitch and beyond is as bad as I’ve ever seen.”