Ex-Rangers hitman laments vicious Ibrox cycle as he lands key question Russell Martin must answer

The new Rangers boss is facing calls for his departure just 90 days into his tenure, after failing to win any of his first four league games in charge, while they were also humiliated by Club Brugge in the Champions League play-offs 9-1 on aggregate. Martin insists he doesn’t fear being sacked by new chairman Andrew Cavanagh and the Rangers board, saying he’d “felt more support than ever” in the aftermath of Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Celtic.

Miller, who scored 116 goals for the club during his playing career, believes that the Gers fans have every right to be disgruntled, though, insisting the supporters feel like they are trapped in a monotonous, repetitive cycle, despite the club’s summer takeover by the 49ers.

“When you choose to play for that club, you know what the expectations are,” said Miller. “You need to deliver wins, you need to win trophies. Right now, I can sense within the Rangers fanbase where it's going to be another year where they won't be in a position to do that, and that's where the concerns lie at the moment. The fans get the feeling that it's going to be another long, tough season, and they're thinking that Celtic are going to run away with the league.

“They're going to be talking about transition year and always playing catch-up. It's the same things you've heard for the last four or five seasons. There's going to be a real spotlight on Rangers' recruitment, and whether or not they're bringing in the players of the right quality. Perhaps even more than the quality, whether they're bringing in players with the right character and mindset that you need to represent a club like Rangers.”

With high-flying Hearts up after the international break for the Glasgow giants, the 45-year-old former Scotland international believes Rangers are reaching the must-win phase of Martin’s tenure - but he insists it’ll be far from easy against Derek McInnes' side, who head to Ibrox joint top of the Scottish Premiership.

“It's a tough one after the international break against Hearts,” Miller told casino.co.uk. “They have started the season well, but Rangers need to start winning. They can't drop more points; it's always going to bring pressure, especially so early in the season. When you start the season like Rangers have, it's always going to bring pressure.

“For Russell as a manager, I'm sure when he was at Southampton he might have faced similar types of games in the EFL Championship, maybe where teams are more defensive because they're playing a team that is one of the favourites to go back up. It's every week up here, though. It's hard to compare what he's going to do here compared to when he was at MK Dons or Swansea.

“The questions are; how are you going to break these teams down? Rangers teams over history, that's what they've had to deal with. You need to break down the deep, defensive 4-5-1 or 5-4-1 formations, the blocks protecting their goal, fighting for their lives. It's a big thing with the Scottish game. You have a lot of proud teams, fighting for their clubs.

“They're going to protect what they have and work hard, protecting leads or points whether it's at home or away. That's what has to be turned around for Russell. In Glasgow, you don't get a lot of time. For him and the players, they need to start winning.”

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