Ally McCoist feels Russell Martin and Rangers owners underestimated size of task

Former Rangers manager Ally McCoist feels the club’s new owners and Russell Martin “underestimated” the size of the task at Ibrox before the head coach was sacked.

Martin lasted just four months in charge and paid the price for a poor start after Sunday’s 1-1 Premiership draw with Falkirk.

Rangers only won five out of 17 games under Martin with their sole league victory coming courtesy of a stoppage-time winner at Livingston. A Champions League exit was followed by defeats in their opening two Europa League games against Genk and Sturm Graz.

Martin was appointed soon after an American consortium secured a majority stake in Rangers but the new-look board now face another major decision.

McCoist said on TalkSPORT: “We’re sitting eighth in the table and we have a negative goal difference so there’s no surprise at all.

“I think probably the new owners and certainly the old management staff probably underestimated the size of the job.

“There’s a lot of people maybe just look a little bit at Scottish football and say ‘Celtic and Rangers will win their games and that’s it finished because that’s what they do’. But football is a lot more difficult than that.

“I just think that aligned to really poor, really poor business in the transfer market in terms of recruitment.

“It’s easy to blame the manager and that’s where the buck stops, we all know that’s what happens, but the players have got to take some of the responsibility as well. Some of the defending…

“The goals Rangers lost in midweek (against Sturm Graz) were incredible.

“Rangers look like wee boys. Falkirk out-ran Rangers, they out-fought Rangers and that can happen occasionally but it’s been happening on a regular basis. It’s not good enough.

“The away games. They’ve been to St Mirren, Motherwell, Falkirk, Livingston. It’s not as if they have been to Celtic, Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen. These are games you are expected to win.”

Another former Rangers striker, Kris Boyd, expanded on McCoist’s main point and believes questions will be asked of the likes of sporting director Kevin Thelwell.

“Scotland’s a difficult place to play football,” Boyd told Sky Sports News.

“There’s a lot of people, especially down south, that think it’s easy, it’s not that good. And sometimes the football isn’t that good, you can’t get away from that.

“But it’s a difficult place to play because both clubs in this city demand that you win. Both can’t win at the same time and when you’re not winning, you come under huge scrutiny.

“And that’s where Rangers are at right now because not only Russell Martin hasn’t delivered. There’s a lot of people within the football club failing to deliver in their duty right now as well, and the focus will turn on them.”

Boyd added: “There’s fingerprints from other people over some of the signings that have arrived at Rangers.

“When you think of (Youssef) Chermiti, for £9million, you’ve got to be looking for more. You’ve got to be looking for somebody that’s going to come in and start and have an impact. You’re more or less looking for the finished article, not a project.

“Rangers recruitment, they’ve tried to hit the jackpot with every single signing, bringing them in, giving them an opportunity to try and move them on for bigger money.

“You need to have a core at this football club that allows you to build from within, and that has been lost.”