Before sacking, manager needs police escort in Europe 🎥 | OneFootball

The new stumble of Rangers in the Scottish league - the 1 x 1 away against Falkirk this Sunday (5) - cost the job of coach Russell Martin.

But before his official departure, the 39-year-old Englishman went through a "different" situation.

He was only able to leave Falkirk Stadium with a police escort, as Rangers fans were waiting for his exit.

Russell Martin's dismissal was already "demanded" by a good part of the fans. There was even a banner at this Sunday's match.

📸 Ian MacNicol - 2025 Getty Images

Season full of frustrations

The 2025/2026 season of Rangers already started without the expected regularity.

The positive point were the qualifications in two knockout stages of the Champions after dispatching Panathinaikos and, later, Viktoria Plzen.

But then came a humiliating 9x1 on aggregate against Brugge. Which relegated the club to the Europa League.

Such elimination deteriorated the fans' confidence in Martin's work, as the start in the Scottish Championship was not the best: three draws in the first three rounds.

The sequence was of two defeats in the first rounds of the Uefa Europa League. And a single victory in the Premiership.

This Sunday's draw took Rangers to eight points in the Scottish league. It only occupies the eighth position.

Leading is Hearts, which has 19. Two more than Celtic, the current four-time champion.

The campaign in the local Cup is positive. It will face Celtic in the semifinal.

Will there be a turnaround?

The great current mission of Rangers is not to see the biggest rival take the lead in the number of Scottish Championship titles, as both have 55.

Rangers boasted 54 titles against Celtic's 43 at the end of the 2011/2012 season.

But then came bankruptcy due to debts.

A business group refounded the club, which went from being The Rangers Football Club to become Rangers Football Club and start over in the Fourth Division.

The new Rangers only won the Scottish Premiership once (2020/2021) since it returned to the elite in the 2016/2017 season.

Its other great achievement was reaching the final of the 2021/2022 Europa League - it was overcome by Eintracht Frankfurt.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

📸 Ian MacNicol - 2025 Getty Images