By David Herd

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FALKIRK V RANGERS PREMIERSHIP SUN 28 SEPTEMBER 15:00

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Welcome to the latest edition of the website’s weekly preview feature.

At last, Rangers have won a league game at the sixth attempt. There can’t be any great celebration at needing a 93rdminute winner to scrape past the team who finished second in the Championship last season, but winning is what comes before anything else and three points are always welcomed.

There was a spell in the first half where we played our best football of the domestic season so far, but that is such a low bar that it’s not really a compliment. We certainly weren’t “outstanding” as described by our Head Coach. We did score a very good goal, the much-maligned captain scoring his 134th Rangers goal, a quite extraordinary number. Yes, more than half are penalties, but even discounting them he is a defender who has now scored 63 goals not from the spot. That’s only 9 less non-penalty goals than Davie Cooper! We can argue his leadership abilities, we can debate his defending, but one thing beyond any doubt is his attacking numbers.

The last-gasp winner saw wild but brief celebration, then a swift return to the brutal verbal chanting at Russell Martin. I absolutely agree he should not be in the job. I totally understand the anger and the outrage at just how much he is out of his depth, while giving interviews that arrogantly deny reality and ignore the justifiable concerns of every fan. But, I must admit, to being very uneasy at the extent of the abuse he is getting both in the ground and online. Maybe I’m too old-fashioned, but I am starting to think that we have a core of fans who now care more about dishing out abuse to him than actually celebrating a goal or hoping for a victory. He should never have been appointed, the team and the results are just what the vast majority predicted, and that is behind the unprecedented level of toxicity aimed in his direction. I do think, however, we have supporters who were never going to give him a chance, they had decided a bearded, long-haired, vegan, failed football philosopher was to be chased away as quickly as possible. What is without doubt, is that in my 55+ years of following Rangers, I’ve seen hopeless managers and I’ve seen fan protests. But never anything close to the poison of right now.

My personal view is that the louder and more poisonous this gets, the less likely those in charge will bow to it. They will not want to be seen as allowing the fanbase to dictate to them in this way. Our new owners are businessmen with no emotional pull towards Ibrox. They told us they would act long-term and they would not be swayed by emotion. I do think the fans should be looking to force change as soon as possible and before the season is in ruins, but we need to think carefully as to how that pressure is exerted. It won’t be by chanting “Get to ****”, and it won’t be by name-calling. For me, the 13,000 empty seats for the Genk match, the 17,000 empty seats at the Hibs game, the poor uptake of hospitality packages at Ibrox, and the increasing number of fans cancelling CCCS is a message that cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, so is the lost European prize money for points and games won. I would never call for a boycott of Rangers, we should all do what we think is right for ourselves and for how we want to support the club we love. But if even a quarter of those telling Martin to GTF left their seats empty instead, their message will get all the way to San Francisco in a way that abusive singing won’t.

If results and performances don’t improve, I expect apathy to set in soon anyway. We’re about to go into winter, and the expense of Christmas isn’t too far away. Many will vote with their feet and decide they have better things to do and more important things to spend their money on than shelling out cash on matchdays only to have their opinion ignored.

And at some point, the anger will inevitably shift upwards above Martin and be aimed at those who both hired him and now refuse to fire him. Kevin Thelwell’s “he is one of the best coaches I’ve ever worked with” and Partick Stewart’s “we need to stop changing manager and resolve the underlying issues” are already shown to be nonsensical word soup. They cannot hide behind their hapless and hopeless Head Coach much longer. And hiring nothing but former Everton employees and Thelwell’s son has put them right into the spotlight now. If the owners haven’t been on the phone asking what hiring policy Thelwell is implementing, they are abandoning their responsibilities.

They all might see less heat than expected if the team were to go on a winning run, and Rangers look like challenging for honours domestically and retaining the club’s reputation in Europe. Last night’s game in Austria just showed again that Martin’s preferred system is too wide open, and too easy to cut through. It also showed that when we abandon that and throw caution to the wind, we do have some attacking options that will get goals with the shackles off. But this team desperately needs a coach who can organise a defence and who will build a foundation. Let’s be honest, that will never be the current incumbent. Five wins in sixteen games. It’s embarrassing.

FALKIRK 1 RANGERS 2

If I was to be glass half-full, I’d point out that Rangers have won their last two domestic games. Not that two wins in a row is anything to be excited about, of course. This Sunday we are again live on Sky at one of the newly-promoted teams. Falkirk look like a team who create a bit more than Livingston, but perhaps aren’t as solid and organised at the back. It’s also another plastic pitch, but using that as any excuse if things go wrong won’t wash with any of the support.

My crystal ball is seeing the same scoreline as last Sunday, and I’m expecting it to be as much of a struggle too. Unlike Livingston, Falkirk have a support that can fill their own small stadium, so we go from having 80% of the fans last week to just a tiny away support this time. Given the attitude of the vast majority towards the Head Coach and the constant chanting about him in recent weeks, Russell Martin might actually be happy to see only a few hundred in the Rangers section! I’m predicting another goal for Gassama, and another winner scored towards the end of the game. And the result to make no difference to the reception Martin gets.

If there had just been the Livingston game in the last seven days, I’d have been tempted to give the award to Max Aarons for his injury time winner in his first appearance since his pathetic red card in Brugge. It was, after all, the first winning goal in a league game for Rangers since May! But I’m going for Djeidi Gassama, who showed in Austria that he is head and shoulders above any of our other attackers in terms of threat and ability to create chances. Five goals now in European competition is a sensational return for a winger after just eight matches. Sadly, his goal in Graz couldn’t get us a point thanks to the defensive shambles behind him in the first half. If only we had a coach who knew how to stop the opposition walking through us, Gassama might be scoring winners.