Cruel cabbage and turnip jibes unite Scottish managers in distress - and a triangle of sadness could be formed

This time last year, Thelin’s Aberdeen side were sitting joint top of the Premiership and their fans were singing about winning the league after beating Dundee at Dens Park. Martin, meanwhile, still had reasonable hope he could make a success of Southampton’s return to the Premier League following the winning of their first point of the season against Ipswich Town.

Now fate has led them to Scotland’s heartlands. To Motherwell, in the case of Thelin and Aberdeen. As for Martin, Livingston might be the venue for his last dance with Rangers.

The lifelines of both managers look short. They are in dire straits. There’s probably a conversation to be had around why two such promising young coaches are finding it so hard to implement their ideas in Scottish football, Thelin’s increasingly miraculous-seeming Scottish Cup win notwithstanding.

Not that either of the men in question have time to sit around analysing. Many already want them chased out.

Two good men have been brought low and mocked. Thelin has been dubbed “Jimmy Turnip” by some opposition fans as well as a rising number of Aberdeen supporters.

‘Get the subs on, cabbage’

The opprobrium raining down on Martin is merciless. One supporter behind the press seats at Ibrox spent much of Thursday’s opening Europa League defeat to Genk referring to the manager as “cabbage”. It was cabbage this, cabbage that. “Get the subs on, Cabbage!” this disaffected gentleman yelled at one point. It was quite clearly not a term of affection. Not for the first time, Martin’s predominantly vegan diet, something he adopted to help combat ulcerative colitis, was being used as a stick to beat him.

It was inevitable that his appearance in front of the cameras on Friday to preview Sunday’s clash with Livingston would quickly become more grist to the mill for the critics. He wore glasses. Now not only is he a vegan, but he’s a speccy vegan.

Of course, would any of this matter if he was sitting on 14 wins from his first 14 matches? Almost certainly not. The Union Bears would probably happily rename themselves the Onion Bears were that the case.

Instead, he’s won just four, one of which was against Alloa Athletic. Depending on results, his side could slip to joint-bottom, yes bottom, of the Premiership by the time they next see action in West Lothian. If this were to happen, then it would mean Aberdeen taking full points from their trip to Motherwell.

That would help relieve the pressure building around Thelin, whose side have still to score in the league this season never mind win. Rangers, too, remain winless in the league. Unbelievably, should they fail to break the duck this weekend, it will be October – at least – before they can register a first league win of the season, which seems unthinkable. The same applies for Aberdeen. The difference is that their managers appear to be in contrasting stages of acceptance.

Ears pricked up among reporters sitting in the cramped press room at Tannadice on Tuesday night following Aberdeen’s limp 2-0 defeat to Dundee United when Thelin spoke about now having “nothing to lose” in the next match at Motherwell. They had, he reckoned, hit rock bottom.

Rangers ‘still have time’

In his interview with Sky Sports on Friday, Martin stressed Rangers “still have time” to make up lost ground. He repeated his recent mantra about “learning from previous games” and making sure they “stick to the principles in their performance to help them improve”.

The fans’ view of these two struggling managers is strikingly different too. At Aberdeen, it genuinely pains them to observe that the manager who led them to Scottish Cup glory over Celtic as recently as four months ago is entering last chance saloon territory.

At Rangers, meanwhile, what feels like a significant number of supporters wonder why on earth Martin was ever given the chance to manage their club in the first place. If Thelin leaves, it will be with thanks and good wishes. If and more likely when Martin departs, there will be parties on the same stretch of Edmiston Drive where supporters gathered to demand his and chief executive Patrick Stewart’s removal as recently as last Saturday.

Little that has happened since has seen them change their tune despite Martin leading Rangers into the last four of the League Cup following a reasonably comfortably win over Hibs. But no sooner does he make one (small) step forward than he takes what is interpreted as two steps back against Genk.

While Martin strove to emphasise the game-changing nature of Mohamed Diomande’s red card four minutes before half-time, and he had a point, the raggedness of much of Rangers’ play before and after the midfielder’s departure was hard to ignore.

One does wonder what might have happened with eleven men. As one former Rangers player pointed out to me following the match, it seems the team have got it the wrong way around. They are taking chances at the back while being too conservative in the offensive areas. It’s hard to disagree. The openness in defence is not married to a pleasing sense of adventure in attack. Thelo Aasgaard recently scored four times for Norway in an international match. Has he had four shots yet for Rangers since joining from Luton Town?

David Martindale, the canny Livingston manager, will be sitting rubbing his hands. Likewise Jens Berthel Askou at Motherwell as Aberdeen arrive carrying more baggage than just the team kit. Thelin admitted his team were “stiff” with apprehension on Tuesday in Dundee.

About 24 miles separate Livingston and Motherwell. If you include Celtic Park, where Celtic host Hibs amid more plans for anti-board demonstrations, then there’s scope for Scottish football’s very own triangle of sadness to form this weekend.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is not in danger of losing his job, though he’s expected to leave on his own accord in the summer. It still seems very likely that he will outstay both Martin and Thelin.