The boss was escorted out of the Falkirk Stadium by the side door amid escalating fan fury
19:33, 05 Oct 2025Updated 20:34, 05 Oct 2025
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The Rangers team bus needed the Police to get out of Falkirk at full-time.
While Russell Martin had to be escorted out of a stadium side door on his own – to avoid a baying mob.
For anyone on the outside of this Rangers mess, it would appear pretty clear that this simply can’t go on.
But whether it’s enough to change the minds of those on the inside remains to be seen.
After all, they’ve allowed it to fester this long. But Falkirk felt like a pivotal moment for Martin, his staff and the Rangers players.
Not just because cops with batons had to stop punters from holding a sit-down protest in front of their Park’s bus at full-time.
Of that Martin needed protecting on his way out of the ground. No, on top of all of that was the fact that Rangers are almost certainly out of any potential Premiership title race – if they weren’t already.
Incredibly, after just one league win, they’re eighth in the table – nine points behind Celtic and 11 adrift of leaders Hearts.
At times on Sunday, Martin’s men were out-played and out-fought by John McGlynn’s newly-promoted side.
The home side probably deserved a victory.
As for Rangers, after going a goal up at half-time through Bojan Miovski, they disappeared after the break.
They could only muster two shots on target during 90-odd minutes – the Macedonian’s goal and a powder-puff attempt from £10 million striker Youssef Chermiti.
There have been some low moments in Martin’s tenure already this season.
But this one felt different. Supporters surrounded the team bus afterwards.
And if they get their wish during the international break, it’ll be a taxi Martin heads back down south in before long.
(Image: Daily Record)
Yet he remains defiant. When his team scored, the travelling support responded by telling the manager to get to f***.
That’s why it’s difficult to see how it can go on.
Afterwards, there was almost a sense of apathy from Martin, instead of anger at his side’s display.
When asked what it meant to him when he heard it from fans, he said: “Not much really. I’ve gotten pretty used to it over the last few weeks. It’s certainly character building.”
There’s no doubt he’s resilient. It’s just a pity for fans that his players don’t have that level of grit about them.
Martin is adamant that his position hasn’t changed and nor has the support he’s getting from the Ibrox hierarchy.
He doesn’t expect any showdown talks with chairman Andrew Cavenagh in the coming days.
So what does he see that others aren’t, in terms of believing the situation can be turned around?
Martin said: “What I see every day with the players, how invested they are in it, how hard they run.
“If I felt anything else, I would feel differently here.
“It probably wouldn’t hurt as much, but I know they’re really trying.
“And the staff have been amazing.
“Am I expecting talks with Andrew? Not that I know of.
“We talk after every game, so I expect to have a chat with them.
“But out of the ordinary? No, not at the moment.”
International breaks are traditionally a period where clubs take stock and make decisions on a manager’s future.
Being so far away in the league, as well as losing their opening two Europa League fixtures, means Cavenagh and Co will surely have a lot of thinking to do over the next fortnight.
But as for their backing of Martin dwindling? The man himself says that would be news to him.
He said: “Even if they were thinking about that, if they then gave me that sense, I don’t think they’d be doing their job properly.
“So I’ve had nothing but support in the last week and more so than ever, actually, with some of the conversations we’ve had.
“I just can’t control that. So I can’t give you a better answer than that.”
As for the game itself, Rangers were fortunate in the end not to lose it.
After Falkirk equalised through sub Henry Cartwright, they could have won it through a Brian Graham chance towards the end.
Martin says his players got anxious again at 1-0 up, not for the first time this term.
But he was left exasperated at how they couldn’t go and find a second goal.
He said: “My overriding feeling is just frustration.
“We spoke about battling and fighting – and we had to do lots of that in the first 25 minutes.
“We defended the box, threw bodies in the way and then grew into the game.
“We scored a brilliant goal, a really good team goal.
“We started the second half alright but we didn’t get a second goal.
“A bit of tension came in so we made a few changes to get some energy.
“I still felt comfortable. But we didn’t have enough moments.
“I didn’t feel like they were going to score either.
“Then obviously their goal comes out of nowhere. We didn’t compete properly on one side of the pitch.
“We don’t make up for that as a group and it flies in, which just seems to be the way it’s going at the moment.
“We were trying to get a winner, which has been the case too many times.
“That left us a bit open and exposed at times. Then it just becomes frantic really because the lads are so desperate to go and score.
“It’s counterproductive. If they stay calm and play their position at that point, it probably gives us more of a chance.
“We had some brilliant moments but the final decision making isn’t quite there.”
Bojan Miovski speaks with Russell Martin(Image: SNS Group)
That’s an understatement. The question now is, will Martin get the time to put it right.
When fans are chanting against you after scoring, it looks impossible.
And his opposite number McGlynn admits he’s never encountered what Martin is going through before.
He said: “You’ve got to have sympathy for Russell. It’s not nice.
“As a manager, you’re trying to do your best. But we smelt blood today.
“There would be something wrong if I didn’t mention that to the players this week.
“There have been ongoing issues with Rangers and the fans.
“I’ve never experienced the opposition team scoring and then away fans shouting for the manager to go? Never.
“It’s very strange but we knew it would happen.”