Russell Martin says he will not be walking away from Rangers despite mounting speculation about his future following a disappointing draw with Falkirk. The Glasgow giants struggled against John McGlynn’s squad, who fought hard for a well-deserved draw and seemed more likely to secure a victory at Falkirk Stadium.
With Rangers currently languishing in eighth place in the Premiership table after a disastrous start to the season, the Ibrox hierarchy now face a significant decision regarding Martin’s future. The international break offers them a chance to axe Martin and replace him before the players return from playing for their countries. However, when questioned by Sky Sports if he had any doubts about his suitability for the job, Martin responded emphatically: “No. I’ve never given up anything in my life and it’s always gone pretty well for me.”
He added: “So, not even come into the equation. I will keep working with the players and the staff – who I feel have been so good with us, the players have really (had) a good connection, good understanding, hungry and they just can’t quite translate that into results at the moment.”
When asked about the fans’ belief that little has improved since the start of the season, he replied: “It has been improving a lot. Difficult pitch, difficult conditions – we are 1-0 up and should go on and score a second, and we don’t and it costs us.
“But there has been improvements. Maybe not in results, but performance – a lot. But I know everybody just wants to win games.
“This thing at this club, I hear everyone say it all the time, ‘you just have to win’ – you also have to have a way to win, and to learn and grow and develop.
“You can’t just win sustainably in my opinion. You can’t just win if you don’t have a team of seasoned men with thousands of games under their belt collectively.
“We haven’t got that, we have got a lot of young players that a growing into it. My job is to keep trying to help them and I’ll do it until I’m told not to. I said we are going to have to win whilst building and we are building without the results we currently want.
“I understand it, and that’s part of this job – at any football club – more scrutiny and intensity here than most places, I would argue, but it’s something you have to deal with and I will do that to the best of my ability until I am told not to, like I said.”
When his comment about “until I am told not to” was highlighted, an irritated Martin interrupted: “You are going to ask me about my future. You have done it many, many times this season – as have many.
“But it’s the same answer all the time – I don’t control that, I felt really well supporter by everyone today, this morning, I just keep focussing on what I can control, which is the players and the work. We need to try and be better.”