'So unfair': Russell Martin's Rangers dilemma laid bare due to Celtic situation

Martin has taken over as the permanent successor to Philippe Clement at Ibrox and is overseeing another major overhaul of the Rangers squad ahead of the domestic season starting early next month.

Celtic have been the dominant force in Scottish football of late and are ahead of Rangers on and off the pitch. And former Scotland internationalist Pat Nevin - now a respected football pundit - believes the only way Martin can curry favour with the Govan fanbase is if he can match Celtic right until the end of the season.

“Rangers have got to be winning the league,” said Nevin. “It is so unfair. Celtic have got so many advantages. They've been in the Champions League for so long. They've got so much more money behind them. They have got that base with the good managers that they've had with Brendan Rodgers and Ange Postecoglou before it. They have got so many more advantages.

“Rangers, they're a big club. They're obviously financially better off than any other club in Scotland apart from Celtic. But you're asking so much. They've come back from a long way down, we all know that. But for Russell, in my eyes, if you challenge for the title right up to the end, well done, you deserve another year, mate. Well done.

“Whether the Rangers fans will put up with that, I don't know. But in my eyes that should be good enough to let them build for a couple of years. That's what I think. But that's just not what it's like up here, I'm afraid. It's just not what it is.

‘Astonishing amount of change at Rangers’

“There has been an astonishing amount of change at Rangers. Not just the manager, but the moves out. Rangers fans’ heads must have been spinning. Really, Leon Balogun and Tom Lawrence, Ianis Hagi and Vaclav Cerny all going. These are players that were playing all the time - gone.

“But they brought a whole bunch of players in as well. Lyall Cameron's come in as well, which is a very interesting one actually. Down south you go, really? Is he that all? Up here that can make a difference. That can make a big difference. So, it's interesting.”

“Am I thinking Rangers are going to win the title? No, not yet. Because Celtic have got so many advantages over Rangers at the moment. But Russell, what will be intriguing and the thing I'm most interested in is the style.

“Russell's played a certain style which is lovely as long as you're winning. And then you're not winning, fans get very, very, very angry about it. And Rangers fans will get angry very quickly if it's not winning.”

Nevin added in an interview with Compare.bet: “They'll get really angry with that system because it looks dull and it looks predictable. But it's very considered. We all know what it is. We've watched it. It didn't work in the Premier League but it did work before.

“But the expectation at Rangers is you don't keep on doing the process when you're 2-0 down to Falkirk.”