Six months on from his dismissal at Ibrox, former Rangers manager Russell Martin has reflected on his turbulent spell in charge.
He spoke on BBC Five Live admitting frustration at how his tenure unfolded but insisting he does not regret his time at the club.
Martin lasted just 17 matches as Rangers boss before his departure earlier this season, a spell that saw him struggle to impose his ideas on a squad undergoing significant change.
Russell’s recollection
Looking back, the former Southampton manager believes some of the issues were self-inflicted.
“The biggest thing I am from that is frustrated” Martin said.
“There was so many small things we could have done a little bit better.
“I should have been a bit more rigid with formation and certain principles and I bent and flexed to fit the newness of the group.”
He also admitted mistakes were made during the summer recruitment drive he oversaw alongside former sporting director Kevin Thelwell.
If given the chance again, Martin suggested he would resist overhauling the squad so dramatically.
“I would try to change less too quickly in personnel and kept some of the group that understood what it took,” he explained.
That raises an obvious question.
Which players with that winning understanding did Rangers allow to slip away?
The departees assessed
Leon Balogun
Few players understood the demands of Rangers quite like Leon Balogun.
Across two spells at the club the Nigerian centre-back won every domestic honour available and provided experience in a dressing room often short on calm leadership.
While injuries had begun to limit his availability and his pace was fading.
Rangers struggled badly at centre-half early in the season before the emergence of Emmanuel Fernandez.
Balogun’s experience could have been the steadying influence that Martin’s backline lacked during those chaotic opening months.
Cyriel Dessers
Cyriel Dessers divided opinion throughout his Rangers career. A total enigma.
The Nigerian striker was capable of moments of brilliance and bafflement within the same passage of play, never mind across an entire match.
But despite his frustrating inconsistency, his goal return was undeniable.
Dessers scored 34 league goals in 70 matches across his two full seasons in Scotland.
That is a record Rangers have struggled to replace despite recruiting three forwards since his departure.
Yousef Chermiti has produced important goals this season but has yet to offer the consistent scoring threat Dessers provided before his move to Panathinaikos.
Ianis Hagi
Another departure who knew what it meant to win at Rangers was Ianis Hagi.
The Romanian international was part of the side that delivered the club’s historic 55th league title and had fought back from serious injury to reignite his Rangers career.
Hagi possessed a spark of ingenuity that the current Rangers team has often lacked creatively.
Yet consistency remained an issue throughout his time in Glasgow.
His modest return of three assists and two goals in the Turkish Super Lig this season suggests he may not have been the transformative figure Rangers required.
Hamza Igamane
One exit that appears far harder to justify is Hamza Igamane.
The Moroccan forward left Rangers under a cloud during Martin’s tenure after an incident at St Mirren in which he appeared to refuse to come on as a substitute before quickly securing a move to Lille.
Igamane made an impressive start in France before suffering a serious injury that curtailed his momentum.
Convincing him to remain may have been difficult, but the young striker is perhaps the clearest example of the quality Martin hinted at when speaking about players who “understood what it took”.
Read Rangers analysis
Despite his reflections, Martin’s record at Rangers remains historically poor.
His league run of one win and five draws with a defeat to Hearts at Ibrox leaves him with a win percentage of just 29.41%, the lowest of any permanent Rangers manager.
It is a record that compares unfavourably with some of the club’s most criticised spells.
Paul Le Guen departed in 2007 with a 51.61%-win record, Pedro Caixinha managed 53.85%, John Greig recorded 52.08%, while Davie White, the first Rangers manager never to win a trophy, still achieved 64.03%.
Even temporary managers fared better. Graeme Murty left with a 60% win rate and Barry Ferguson’s caretaker spell last season ended with 40%.
Perhaps most damning is the comparison with Kenny McDowell.
Handed the job during the chaotic Mike Ashley era, with a depleted squad and financial uncertainty hanging over the club, McDowell still finished with a 30%-win ratio.
Still marginally better than Martin’s.
Yet the former Rangers boss believes his record has been unfairly portrayed.
“I lost one league game. Everybody is talking as if I lost every game,” he said.
“We didn’t win enough – but we lost one.”
For many Rangers supporters, however, the numbers tell a far more unforgiving story.
Added to that – his words simply don’t add up in reality.
