MELTDOWNS GALORE: THE GREAT RANGERS TAKEOVER REALITY CHECK BEGINS
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Jun 4
- 3 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
They never learn, they just never learn.
It’s not even been a week since the Rangers takeover, hailed by our own supposedly independent media as the second coming, was completed and already there’s all out war amongst their own fanbase.
I did say that if this takeover went through, it would not be the transformational event that Keith Jackson and company made it out to be.
Rangers Takeover Reality Leaves Fans Raging
The fact that former Southampton manager Russell Martin has emerged as the apparent favorite to be the next manager at Ibrox has sent the denizens of Follow Follow into the biggest meltdown since, well actually not that long ago.
These things are now part of the recurring cycle of arrogance, frustration, defiance, denial and then anger that comprises the pain of following their reanimated club since 2012.
However, the mere suggestion of Martin as the next Rangers boss has compelled many a message board scribbler to leap straight from last week’s arrogance to the kind of anger and impotent rage usually reserved for the day after they’ve been gubbed by Celtic.
They expected a big name, they best they could hope for in reality was the nepo-baby of an actual big name in football management. However, it seems even Davide Ancelotti has decided Rangers isn’t worth the risk of reputational damage.
Which brings us to Russell Martin. I actually said in discussions with fellow fans about this a couple of weeks ago that Martin was the most realistic and probably most capable candidate of all those being mentioned.
However, I think ACSOM’s own Paul John Dykes summed it up best on yesterday’s bulletin when he said: “It’s a sensible appointment, which is exactly why the Rangers support don't get it.”
Of course, our own mainstream media are playing up certain aspects of Martin’s character in their own style, with a clear agenda in mind.
So much of our media discourse these days is driven by “rage-bait” articles designed purely to make people angry. So, I’m not really surprised to see the Daily Record and The Sun playing up Martin’s Buddhist beliefs, his vegan diet and his support of the Green Party.
Exactly the kind of “woke foreign agendas” guaranteed to get the Union Bears and their spawn foaming at the mouth.
Somebody like Martin, a capable coach, with experience of Ibrox, having played there, and with realistic goals, is exactly what Rangers need. As a result. he’s also exactly what their fans don’t want. They don’t want to hear their new manager say “catching Celtic isn’t the priority.” However, that is the realistic thing to say. It is the reality of this Rangers takeover and always has been.
I think this could be the start of a process that sees a lot of the “ever-loyal true blues” bin their “Make Rangers Great Again” baseball caps and American flags over the next few months, as it becomes clear this takeover isn’t the instant fix they all believe they are entitled to.
Austerity is the only way this can work for the new owners. Russell Martin as manager is a sign of this more financially sensible approach. It’s also a sign of the mediocrity Rangers will need to accept for the foreseeable future to secure their long-term stability.
However, as a team that has languished in extreme debt for almost the entirety of its 13-year existence, long-term stability isn’t part of the average Rangers fan’s mindset.
It is however, the new reality, and no amount of staunchness, sash-waving or online tantrums will change that.
