'Angry' former Rangers boss details big Ibrox regret and makes 'better manager' claim despite 17-game stint

Martin, 40, has been speaking about his managerial career having recently been appointed as the new head coach of third-tier English outfit Leicester City, marking his return to the dugout for the first time since being sacked after winning just five of his 17 games as Rangers manager last October.

Signing a three-year deal at the King Power Stadium earlier this month, Martin says that the mistakes he made at Rangers played a major role in his decision-making when choosing his next managerial destination, and believes his torturous spell at Ibrox will make him a better manager in the long run.

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“Rangers, I’m angry at myself because of lots of things," he told Leicester City live. “It probably wasn’t the right fit for them or me. It is what it is, but I learned so much. I love football, coaching, and managing, so I’ve been around and had the fortune, which you don’t often get, to watch so many clubs train in this country, Italy, Spain, and Germany.

"I was able to pick up things from different coaches and top coaches who have won many things, and build relationships. It’s been fascinating and really interesting. I’ve taken a lot from it. That’s why I was so excited to make sure the next one was right for me. Hopefully, I think I’m a better manager now than I was definitely two years ago, or a year ago, so hopefully we’ll benefit from that.”

Despite his honesty over his Rangers failures, he believes a portion of the blame for his struggles at Southampton must be placed on the club itself. Despite guiding the St Mary’s club to promotion back to the English Premier League from the playoffs in 2024, he was sacked just six months later after a grim start to the following campaign.

Sacked in December after he took just five points from the opening 16 league matches, Southampton would end the season bottom of the table with just 12 points – the second-lowest Premier League total in history - and Martin feels he was treated unfairly by the Saints.

“To be honest, Southampton frustrated me because I stuck to my side of the bargain," said Martin. “We got them promoted after year one, we lost a really important person in the director of football [Jason Wilcox], who brought me to the club, and we didn’t replace him. Then in the Premier League, we looked at the squad, and we were weaker than we were in the Championship. We lost some big players like Che Adams, Stuart Armstrong and David Brooks, who was on loan.

"We made the decision there and then to sign some young players who could develop and, if we got relegated, would really help us the following year. So it was similar to Ipswich in terms of sticking with it and having continuity. In all the probabilities and data, the club was going to get relegated, but the club would have a right go.

“Actually, some of the things the boys were doing after the first few weeks, when there was a bit of anxiety and nerves about being in the Premier League, were great. We were so close in so many games - Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Brighton away. We played some brilliant football. We were so close, and I felt like we were building. We got a really bad result, and I was gone.”