Return of Rangers song sums up bonkers season of Russell Martin, James Tavernier and 'misfits'

It was still August. It was the first home league match of the season. Rangers had actually won pretty convincingly a few days earlier in a Champions League qualifier against Viktoria Plzen. But the supporters were not having Russell Martin. Dropping two points at home to Dundee was already the last straw for some.

It was easy to wonder what Martin was thinking this past weekend. We know where he was, on Saturday at least. He was taking in an English third tier clash between two of his former clubs, Wycombe Wanderers and Peterborough United. He was feeling the love. “Great to see our 2009 promotion winning captain Russell Martin on Saturday!” Peterborough’s official X account posted afterwards.

Returns to Ibrox are of course less likely, despite Rangers featuring on his list of former clubs as both a player and manager. His contribution in the case of the latter – an admittedly measly eight points from seven league matches – might yet take his old side over the line as champions. Cue the mother of all splashabouts at Loch Lomond.

It’s being slightly facetious, clearly. The point earned by caretaker manager Steven Smith against Dundee United could yet prove equally crucial while there’s no real doubt about the identity of the person who’s really got Rangers fans dreaming about the most unlikely of title wins.

Danny Rohl’s name was being sung to the extent that some fan media representatives were still humming the tune as the German appeared for his post-match duties against Dundee on Sunday. The opponents provided a ready-made reference point for a then and now contrast. After the Dens Park side’s last visit, the league was declared as good as gone just 180 plus minutes into the campaign – James Tavernier’s injury-time penalty was required to rescue a draw, meaning Rangers were still at risk of falling four points behind Celtic the following day, which they duly did. The Parkhead side defeated Aberdeen while Hearts beat Dundee United to continue their 100 per cent start, although that didn’t seem quite so significant at the time.

‘We’re going to win the league’

On Sunday evening, Rangers fans stayed for the duration and left crowing about a result, if not performance, that meant the Ibrox side leapfrogged Celtic into second place in the league, just four points adrift of Hearts. And was that really a “We’re going to win the league!” refrain heard drifting into the chilly night sky?

What a bonkers season this is. Might it be augmented by the most bonkers champions in recent times? If Rangers lift only their second top-flight title since 2011, it's possible to argue the success, given how the season started, would be more surprising than if Hearts manage to break the Old Firm’s 40-year monopoly on the competition.

The achievement would certainly merit lavish praise, and yes, that would mean some applause being directed Martin’s way. Six members of the (very young) starting XI on Sunday against Dundee were recruited during Martin’s utterly discredited reign as manager. Will there ever be a reassessment, the way some albums written off at the time they are released come to be regarded as actually really quite good?

Of course not. And one of those six starters, Bojan Miovski, is clearly beginning to try the patience of the Ibrox faithful, despite a recent hat trick in the Scottish Cup against Annan Athletic. Indeed, Rangers remain in the market for a striker and their title ambitions could stand or fall on them being successful in the pursuit of one or not. They are reportedly chasing German third tier forward Ryan Naderi from Hansa Rostock although whether he is someone who can come in and straightaway make a difference remains to be seen. It’s tempting to wonder whether Rangers might be even better placed if they still had Cyriel Dessers to call on.

But let’s not re-write history. Dessers himself was not always seen as a Rangers class striker. As for Martin, as much as he did some good things, including being brave in his continued selection of 19-year-old left-back Jayden Meghoma, a contender for the Ibrox side’s young player of the season award, he also seemed intent on driving Tavernier as well as Nico Raskin out.

Both men were at the heart of Rangers’ victory on Sunday. The former continues to be a phenomenon and Martin’s determination to replace Tavernier with the patently inferior Max Aarons was a further black mark against him. Although again, let’s not rewrite history: this was one area where he found some common ground with Rangers fans, who seemed equally keen to push the skipper to the sidelines.

Indeed, I can still remember the evident dismay that Tavernier was running out for the first league game of LAST season against Hearts at Tynecastle, with Phillipe Clement being challenged to move him on.

He has since scored another 10 league goals, with his penalty against Dundee seeing Tavernier hit the magical 100 league goal mark for the club. His first league goal came in 2015 at Alloa during Rangers’ Championship days. He has proved a quite remarkable servant for the club and is now just four league goals away from Kris Boyd’s total.

One question that ought to be answered soon is, when’s that testimonial? Who knows what the near future holds, both for Tavernier, who is out of contract at the end of this season, and Rangers. But one thing’s for sure. If he steps onto the pitch for that benefit game as a Premiership title-winning skipper, it will bring the house down.