Russell Martin plays down outcome of Rangers v Panathinaikos | OneFootball

There has been much chewing and postulating in the press and Rangers fanbase about manager Russell Martin’s Rangers expectations that the match against Panathinaikos does not define Rangers’ season. Once again, a comment made by Rangers has the fans split down the middle between those who endorse the notion as managing expectations and those who believe a Rangers manager should always be expecting to win.

The assertion that Martin has made infers that even losing to Panathinaikos does not define Rangers’ season. Ibrox Noise will put it on record that no Rangers manager should ever lower expectations in this way. The fact is, every single Rangers match defines the season. It doesn’t matter whether it’s against Panathinaikos or Alloa, every single match that Rangers play is a season-defining match.

Even if it feels like just bread and butter matches, in the Scottish Premiership, it is still important because Rangers must always win. We know, practically speaking, that Rangers won’t always win. That especially at the higher levels of Europe, Rangers may face the odd defeat and draw now and again. It does happen. But the reality is, the expectation should always be to win. Not hope, not desire, but expectation.

By suggesting that this match does not define the season, Martin is already preparing to lose. Russell Martin’s Rangers expectations are low. The reality is, our squad is not great, and we already know this, and regulars to the site will know that we are not the biggest fans of the manager either.

Would Walter Smith have said this? Would Walter Smith have played down expectations? He probably would have put it in a much, much better way. In a way that feels like Rangers and how our expectations are.

Obviously, we cannot recall everything that Walter said, or that Alex McLeish said, or that every previous manager said. It is the here and now. But Martin already appears to be preparing for a bad outcome, which is not an ideal situation for a Rangers manager.