“If Vincent Kompany arrived at Rangers, then everybody would be absolutely delighted. Russell Martin has done the exact same as Vincent Kompany.”
The new Rangers head coach already has critics before he’s as much as met the players, but for Sky Sports’ Kris Boyd he is a “fantastic appointment” for the Ibrox club.
Martin has been appointed on a three-year deal to be successor to Philippe Clement, who was sacked in February, with former captain Barry Ferguson taking the team for the final months of last season.
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What should Rangers fans expect from Russell Martin? He explained his footballing philosophy to Monday Night Football in March
The 39-year-old saw off competition from the likes of former Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard and Carlo Ancelotti’s son Davide, who was assistant at Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton and Real Madrid.
After leading Southampton to the Premier League, he was sacked after managing just one win in 16. He has a 39.2 per cent win rate from his four head coach roles so far.
But, despite those stats, Boyd believes his former club have made the right decision this time.
Martin has managed at three clubs during his first five years as a manager
“I think it’s a fantastic appointment for Rangers,” he told Sky Sports News.
“I know there’s a lot of fans out there who are unhappy and they’ve got their concerns. I can understand that as well, but I think when you speak to people within football, Russell Martin is highly thought of.
“When you look at the process that Rangers went through, they’ve obviously spoken to a lot of candidates and Russell Martin has come out on top.
“He’s already been here as a player. He understands the pressures and demands that are put on him as a player, but as a manager, it’s going to be totally different.
“He will have to deal with everything. But I firmly believe that this is the right appointment for the Rangers Football Club and I think he’ll do really well.”
Will his possession-based play suit Rangers?
Martin took Southampton up to the Premier League via the play-offs
“When you look at the way that Russell Martin played, did the MK Dons improve under him? Yes. Did Swansea improve under him? Yes. Did Southampton have more of a style about them? Yes.
“Everybody speaks about the Premier League being the best league in the world, so I think to be able to go up and still cause problems, listen, he lost more than he won in the Premier League, there’s no doubt about that, but you’ve got to stick to your beliefs.
“I think that even within that, there will have been changes, there will have been tweaks, but ultimately Southampton were one of the poorest teams in the Premier League.
“You’re going to lose more than you win. Will Russell Martin be a better manager for that? Of course he will be.
Boyd sees Russell Martin as a coach in the same mould as Vincent Kompany
“If Vincent Kompany arrived at Rangers, then everybody would be absolutely delighted.
“Russell Martin has done the exact same as Vincent Kompany in terms of, he didn’t change his style and his approach.
“Burnley went straight back down and he got the Bayern Munich job off the back of it.
“I think that Russell Martin, if he’d have been given time, there would have been a lot of people looking at him totally different, but because he was obviously sacked after a few games into the Premier League season, there’s a negative spin on it.
“But for me, I think you’ve got to praise managers, they’ve got a style of play about them.
“Everybody speaks about how you want managers that can play a certain way and I think for managers to be able to implement that, you’ve got to give them time.
“I’m sure Russell Martin will know that he will have to tweak things here and there, but at least he’s got a style of play about him. And for me, I think it can be a success in Scotland.”
Catching Celtic
Celtic ended the season 17 points ahead of Rangers
“I don’t think with that squad, I think there will be a lot of new faces arriving at Rangers over the summer and Russell Martin will be part of that recruitment policy.
“Rangers will want to bring in players that Russell will feel as if he can improve and further down the line sell them on for big money.
“It did make good reading for Rangers domestically last year once again, but we’ve seen it before.
“You go back to Dick Advocaat’s team, totally wiped the floor with Celtic. Martin O’Neill arrived and they totally wiped the floor with that Rangers team, which was a good Rangers team.
Can Russell Martin do to Celtic what Martin O’Neill did to Rangers?
“If you look at Rangers’ problems, they didn’t come against Celtic last year, they were against everyone else.
“If Rangers can eradicate the results against everybody else and start to build momentum early, and start winning the games against the rest, then the open firm games will take care of themselves.
“Rangers have shown that they can cause Celtic problems in one or two games, but it’s finding that consistency, and that’s going to be the challenge for Russell Martin from now on.
“He needs to find a level of consistency to go and beat the rest that allows Rangers to challenge towards the latter stage of the season against Celtic.
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Highlights from the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers.
“But it’s going to be a lot harder than you think because Celtic under Brendan Rodgers have been a well-oiled machine now for a number of seasons and they do look as if they will strengthen again in the summer.
“I think that it’s a tough ask, but I think Rangers have got the right man, and he’s shown that he can improve players, he can improve teams, he can build a culture within the football club that will allow the club to flourish going forward.
“Do I think that gap be closed? Of course it can.”
Key dates for Rangers
Martin and his Rangers squad will return to pre-season training on June 23 ahead of the new campaign.
His first taste of the Ibrox dugout then comes on July 6 when they host Club Brugge, who finished second in the Belgian Pro League, in their first pre-season friendly.
The squad then depart for a training camp from July 7 at St George’s Park.
Rangers then face their first Champions League qualifiers, with the first leg on July 22/23 and the return tie on July 29/30.
Middlesbrough – who finished 10th in the Sky Bet Championship – then visit Ibrox on July 26.
The Scottish Premiership campaign gets underway on August 2/3 – with fixtures for the new season out on June 20 – live on Sky Sports News.
