'We need to win early': Russell Martin sets out plan for Rangers

Rangers’ new head coach Russell Martin accepts his side will have to deliver results early in his time in charge, even as he looks to impose his style of play on a revamped squad.

Martin was appointed on a three-year deal as the Ibrox club unveiled the permanent successor to Philippe Clement, and the first head coach under the new regime at Rangers following the American consortium’s takeover.

The former MK Dons, Swansea and Southampton manager has been tasked with turning around the team’s fortunes and delivering domestic success as well as progress in Europe.

In what’s going to be a busy summer, the new head coach will be trying to communicate his ideas to the players, as well as welcoming new faces, with his first competitive game in charge being a crucial Champions League qualifier on July 22/23.

Martin says the team needs to be delivering results from the start even as he works to improve. And with his own appointment being met with negativity from some of the Rangers support, he says winning from the start will help bring everyone together.

“I can’t wait to get time on the training pitch on the players, but in terms of that, we need to win early and we need to find a way to win whilst we are developing,” Martin said.

“I think it’s really important. We had to do that at Southampton and we had to win in amongst a lot of change.

“Winning helps you convince people: players, staff, supporters.

“So I can’t say it’ll take two years to build something, it’s not like why we’re here.

“I want us to keep improving and developing. The end product might not click completely overnight but we have to find a way of winning while building that and developing that.

“It’s a challenge we accepted at the Saints and we will do that here as well.”

Addressing the scepticism and lack of enthusiasm about his appointment from some fans, Martin was confident he could win them around.

“I have to be,” he said. “I have a lot to prove but I have done my whole career.

“My whole career has been based on proving people wrong, really.

“At every level, I got questioned. I got to the Premier League as a player and I wasn’t convinced I could do it but managed to establish myself there and played four or five seasons. Played international football and I’m incredibly proud of that.

“It’s the same as a manager and I’ve had to prove people wrong at every opportunity.

“There’s always some names in football management that are more exciting than others, of course.

“But I feel after five-and-a-half years of being a manager, a coach and a leader in that environment, I love doing it. And I’m going to be all-in here with my energy and love for it and passion.

“Hopefully that will be reflected on the pitch and people will see that and at some point enjoy it. Ultimately I just want to win and if we’re winning, they will be happy.”

Asked if he could put together a title-winning team this summer, the new head coach refused to make promises but believes he can deliver real improvement.

He said: “I think we’re confident we can have a team that‘s better, gets more points, wins more games and really competes to win trophies.”

But his ultimate aim is clear and he says the focus will be on his side, how they play, and what they want to achieve.

“It’s to win trophies,” Martin said. “It’s to build a culture that we are proud, that we can feel, and the ownership feel when they come into the building.

“An environment of hard work, honesty and openness inside and outside of the building and to see a team that doesn’t look different every week and is always trying to improve and develop in our own way and not focused on the opposition too much, or what other people are doing.

“We’re going to do it in our way and we’ll all be on the same page.”

The 39-year-old shared his delight at being appointed as head coach, having come out on top after a long recruitment process that had seen former Real Madrid coach Davide Ancelotti under serious consideration, and other names including former Rangers manager Steven Gerrard in the frame.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Martin said. “Firstly, I’m really grateful to everyone for their trust and faith in me.

“It’s been a really tough and rigorous process. It’s taken some time, but that’s what you expect when you want to be a manager of this football club, to put the club of this stature in size and expectation.

“So I’m delighted it’s ended up with me being in this chair, and I’m extremely grateful for that as well. And now I’m just desperate to get started and excited about what’s to come and what we can really get building here.”

Martin revealed that he had received other offers and opportunities since leaving Southampton last year but that the Rangers job had an appeal that other positions didn’t.

And he admitted that after a disappointing short loan spell as a player at Ibrox, he felt he had unfinished business in Glasgow.

“When this one was first suggested, and even with a couple of other opportunities on the horizon in this last few weeks, this was the one I really wanted,” he explained. “One, because of the expectation and the size of it, what it means to so many people, the opportunity to come here and experience something completely different to anything in football, I think, really.

“That’s what I felt when I played here for a really short period. That also comes into my mind, probably when I look back on my career as a player.

“It’s the one thing that hurt me a lot was that it didn’t go very well here, because I wasn’t quite in the right place physically to do as well as I possibly could, and it was a difficult time for the club.

“So also that comes into the equation as well, I have to be really honest.

“I’m desperate to show a different version of myself here than I did previously.

“And just everything, the fresh start, how these guys have been in the process, the owners, it’s just really exciting, the whole thing.”