A day that turned toxic at Ibrox
For the first time in 47 years, Rangers have opened a league campaign without a win in their first five matches. The 2-0 home defeat to Hearts laid everything bare: a team tense on the ball, a manager under siege, and a support that has run out of patience. Ibrox wasn’t just restless; it was angry. Boos rained down long before the final whistle, and the chant that echoed in the closing minutes — “you’re getting sacked in the morning” — told Russell Martin exactly where he stands with many in the stands.
Hearts hadn’t won at Ibrox in 11 years. They didn’t look spooked by that history. Lawrence Shankland struck in the 22nd minute, finishing a slick move that exposed Rangers’ right side. The late drama summed up the mood: Jack Butland saved Shankland’s 82nd-minute penalty, only for the Hearts captain to bury the rebound. Cue bedlam in the away end — and more fury in the home sections — as Hearts climbed to the top of the table.
The result leaves Rangers 10th after four draws and a defeat. It’s not just the numbers; it’s how they’re conceding the same chances and missing the same moments week after week. Possession looks tidy, but penetration is missing. The passes that snap in training don’t land under pressure in front of 50,000 people. You could see the nerves in every sideways touch.
Then there’s the selection row that dominated the soundtrack of the afternoon. Chants for Nicolas Raskin rolled around Ibrox from the first whistle. The Belgian midfielder was left out entirely amid what multiple sources at the club describe as an ongoing dispute with Martin. That decision overshadowed the team sheet and never left the conversation. Every miscontrol, every slow transition, fed the same question: why wasn’t Raskin involved?
Martin digs in: selection calls, refereeing fury, and what comes next
Asked directly if he would resign, Martin gave a one-word answer: “No.” He backed that up by saying supporters have every right to voice their anger and that he won’t criticise them for it. He also hinted this hostility predates the start of the season, suggesting plenty of fans never wanted him in the job. That’s a bleak reality for any manager to work under, but it’s the reality he’s choosing to confront.
Martin’s frustration with the officials was clear. He argued there was a handball in the buildup to Hearts’ opener. He said a Rangers goal should have stood. These are the margins managers cling to when the wider story is grim, but they also feed the sense inside the dressing room that the breaks won’t fall their way. Martin insisted the team he sees at Auchenhowie during the week — brave, quick, confident — disappears in the glare of matchday. Anxiety, he said, is running the show right now.
On the touchline, that anxiety looked like hesitancy in key moments. Rangers were slow to commit runners beyond the ball. The front line rarely pinned Hearts’ centre-backs. Crosses came, but without real targets or aggression to meet them. When Hearts broke, they broke into space. When Rangers built, they did it in areas Hearts were happy to protect.
Selection is the spark plenty of supporters point to. Leaving Raskin out entirely in a week this tense was a bet that the rest of the midfield could control the game and create enough to win it. That bet didn’t pay off. It also deepened the perception — fair or not — of a manager at odds with the core of his squad. Once that idea takes hold in a crowd, every substitution and every post-match line is judged against it.
The table adds heat. Five games, no wins, 10th place — it doesn’t matter that it’s early if the atmosphere already feels late. Supporters are looking for signs of a plan that’s moving forward: a settled midfield, clarity in wide areas, and a front line that knows exactly how it’s meant to combine. Right now, it looks like a team stuck between ideas.
Hearts deserve more than a passing mention here. Shankland’s movement was sharp, their midfield lines were compact, and their back four dealt with most of what came into the box. They didn’t need to be spectacular; they needed to be organised and clinical. They were both. Top of the table isn’t a fluke after a display like that.
So where does Martin go from here? Standing firm is one thing; changing the mood is another. The immediate checklist isn’t complicated, even if it’s hard to execute under pressure:
- Resolve the Raskin situation — either reintegrate him or draw a clear line and move on.
- Pick a midfield shape and stick with it for a block of games to build rhythm.
- Put pace and width on the pitch earlier; the team needs runners, not just ball-players.
- Dial down the noise about officials; it rarely helps players who already look jittery.
What happens next depends on results, not statements. The crowd told Martin exactly how they feel, and he didn’t blink. That sets up a tense few weeks in Govan. Win, and he buys space to breathe. Drop more points, and the chant that shook Ibrox on Saturday won’t just be a taunt from visiting fans — it’ll become the soundtrack to his tenure.