Martins mess exposed - but when will it end?

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We have to feel the pain - dejected Martin on Rangers humiliation

In the middle of his pre-match thoughts in Bruges, Russell Martin spoke about his dream of a footballing promised land, a vision of the future that had Rangers clicking and scoring and winning games in glorious clusters. "It will be beautiful," he said. "And well all share it together."

When he appeared in the aftermath of this 6-0 second-leg belting in Belgium, the moonbeams had disappeared overhead and the words were not of heaven but something closer to hell - pain, hurt, embarrassment, humiliation. Champions League bingo.

The Martin we saw in the hour before the deluge was confident when there didnt appear to be any reason for confidence. A 3-1 deficit to overcome when you cant beat Motherwell, Dundee and St Mirren. A miracle required when your defence is populated by jittery players and leaks like a sieve.

Alloa - from Scotlands third tier - scored two against Rangers a few weeks back. Realists knew the trip to Club Brugge was about damage limitation. Martin tried to sell it as something else.

The mantra was about waiting until these players understand the genius of the message, just hang on until the full magnificence of the work starts to bear fruit.

The promise of jam tomorrow appears to be the beginning, the end and the in-between of his management.

The Martin we saw afterwards apologised and vowed to be better. His board, he said, are "amazingly supportive. They understand that this might take time".

To a Rangers fanbase that, after just 10 games in charge, only wanted to hear this job is too big for me, Im off, his words were as wounding as anything a rampant Brugge did to their team in 90 minutes.

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Champions League highlights: Club Brugge 6-0 Rangers (Agg 9-1)

Martin spoke about having to accept the pain and hurt and use it as fuel against Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday.

Gone, momentarily, was the self-aggrandising of a fortnight ago when he told the story of how one of his staff said that the Rangers tanker was being turned around on his watch, an assessment Martin cheerily repeated.

The tanker is not turning anywhere. Its got so many holes in it that its disappearing from view, sinking fast, soon to be a rust bucket, which is an apt description of the managers project at Ibrox after this degrading, cataclysmic defeat.

The mercy - if you can call it that - was that it wasnt even more bone-shudderingly embarrassing for Rangers. They conceded six, saw two shots slap off their woodwork, and had Jack Butland to thank for some saves. Without a hint of exaggeration, it could have been 10.

Long before the end, amid their untrammelled fury, it would have been easy to picture Rangers people willing Brugge on, encouraging them in their pursuit of a bigger score and, potentially, an irrecoverable mortification for Martin and his staff. Short-term pain for the medium-term of a manager being shown the door.

Martin told us later that the board have faith. He wasnt likely to say anything else, but for now, its probably true. Maybe less true with each passing mishap, but true enough to buy Martin more time.

The new owners dont reside in the hothouse of Glasgow football, they dont feel the emotion and they look less likely to react to the thunder of the fans in a way their predecessors did.

Andrew Cavenagh, the chairman, was not brought up on stories of Rangers heroes of the past. Nor was vice-chairman, Paraag Marathe, of 49ers Enterprises, another massively important decision-maker in the club.

Mostly, they keep their distance from Glasgow but from Marathes work as chairman of Leeds United, we see somebody who believes in holding his nerve. Patience would appear to be part of his make-up.

When Daniel Farke became Leeds manager in the summer of 2023, he had a bumpy beginning in the role. He won three of his first nine Championship games and one of his last nine that season, culminating with a costly play-off final defeat by Martins Southampton.

When he started the following season with two draws in the league and a cup exit to Middlesbrough, Marathe and his board did not blink. They kept believing and backing the manager and got promoted to the Premier League at the second attempt.

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Its amateurish - MOTD pundits react to Rangers defending against Club Brugge

Inside the goldfish bowl it can look like Martin is doomed. Every Rangers fan is screaming blue murder. Theyre calling for him to be sacked, in terms that offer no ambiguity.

There is a venom and a toxicity. How can he hope to survive this and this and this?

The reality is that even though there are no discernible improvements in Rangers under Martin - not even scraps - he will get more opportunity to rebuild the team.

Cavenagh and Marathe dont strike you as having itchy trigger fingers. Not yet at any rate.

They cannot be deaf to the howls of protest - if they attend the Old Firm game on Sunday theyll be told all about it - but theres little evidence to suggest they will be influenced by supporters who are ready to spontaneously combust.

So you have a board who will wait, a support who see no point in waiting, and a manager who is attempting to sound like hes got this under control when all evidence screams otherwise. A heady brew.

This is Martins team and Martins mess. Not only is it not working, its getting worse. No amount of fast-talking can disguise that, no attempt at a three-card trick is going to fool a single fan at this point.

Nasser Djiga was among the culpable for the first Brugge goal - a Martin signing. Max Aarons got himself sent off inside eight minutes - another Martin signing.

Every one of his new recruits were dismantled. At the break, he took off three of them - 5-0 to Brugge at that stage - and replaced them with three players he inherited.

Later, as he picked through the rubble, he found some praise for one of his substitutes, captain James Tavernier. He said he was proud of the leadership the veteran full-back showed - and it was weird.

If Tavernier is so good, why did he not start him ahead of the hapless Aarons? If he was made of the right stuff, then how come Martin benched him against St Mirren last Sunday, against Brugge last Tuesday, against Alloa before that and against Dundee before that?

There are many illustrations of how curious Martins decision-making is right now, and the sudden praise for a captain he has dropped is part of it.

Rangers, under Martin, cannot defend and in Bruges they couldnt stem the flow of blood when Aarons threw his team under the bus.

They turn to jelly when the ball is delivered into their box, not just on Wednesday, but against Motherwell and Dundee and St Mirren and Alloa.

This is not just about Brugge. Not solely. Its about a manager who a chunk of the supporters never wanted in the first place failing to turn them around, like the tanker of his imagination.

Its about confusion and chaos, about unconvincing words and alarming performances. Its about a board who, apparently, believe and supporters who quite obviously dont.

And next stop is the Old Firm game at Ibrox, which both clubs pant and wheeze towards. These battles are rarely pretty. This could be one of the grislier ones.