Glasgow | Rangers and Martin still without a league win

Rangers 0 - 2 Hearts

Russell Martin has become the first Rangers manager in 47 years to go without a win in his opening five league matches.

Author | Mark Lee

Stadium | Ibrox

Just before it fell apart for the home side

Lawrence Shankland struck twice, first in the 21st minute and again late on, to secure his side’s first triumph in Govan since August 2014 and their first in 19 meetings with Rangers. The final whistle was met with boos from the home support.

A closer look at what happened as the pressure starts to really build on the Rangers boss

Martin had kept faith with the line-up that battled to a goalless draw against Celtic, but Hearts imposed themselves from the start. Craig Halkett, once on the Rangers books, headed over from an early free-kick, before Shankland forced Jack Butland into action. Claudio Braga was lively in attack and it was his neat flick that set up Shankland to drill low into the corner for the opener.

Rangers, lacking creativity, offered little in response. Djeidi Gassama spurned a chance in front of goal, while Thelo Aasgaard’s curling effort was tipped on to the crossbar by debutant goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow. Bojan Miovski’s tame header summed up their first-half frustrations.

The introduction of substitutes briefly lifted the hosts after the interval. Gassama hit the post, Oliver Antman’s strike was beaten away and Derek Cornelius thought he had levelled before his effort was disallowed for a foul on the goalkeeper.

Those hopes faded when Harry Milne went down under Mohamed Diomande’s challenge and, following a lengthy VAR review, a penalty was given. Butland saved Shankland’s initial effort but the striker converted the rebound to put the result beyond doubt. Tómas Bent Magnússon almost added a third, striking the post in the final moments of a sobering night for Martin and his team.

Fan reaction

We searched for comments online from a range of Rangers. Here are some of the best that we found.

Aarron: Martin has to go. He looks incapable of getting the best out of the squad and both players and fans have clearly lost faith, as the results show. Hearts could have played with nine men and still won comfortably. The board must accept that appointing Martin was a mistake and act before things deteriorate further.

Alan White: Enough is enough. Martin looks out of his depth and it is embarrassing for supporters to watch. With the Europa League about to begin, are the board really going to wait until we are knocked out before making a change? We need a manager who understands the supporters’ frustration and can restore belief to the players. Martin is not that man.

Timothy: The last time Rangers began a season this poorly, they recovered to win a cup double and finished just three points behind Celtic. Martin deserves more time to turn things around.