The main word that springs to mind is stability.
In May 2022, Giovanni van Bronckhorst consoled his players in the sweltering heat of Seville as Rangers lost the Europa League final on penalties. It was a mesmeric and heroic run with a sting in the tail, but a Scottish Cup win was to follow just days later to soothe the pain.
Six months on to the day, the Dutchman was axed and the Rangers managerial merry-go-round began.
Since then, Michael Beale, Philippe Clement, Barry Ferguson and Martin have all been in charge across a period of just over three years, with only a League Cup win to show for it.
“They’ll be looking for a bit of help probably, guidance, just to get them a bit of stability,” said former Rangers striker Billy Dodds, who was part of the coaching team last season under Ferguson.
“There’s things that can help. I’ve been in there, we gathered it when we went in right away, got it feeling vibrant again, got it feeling happy, and then you get to the football as well.
“There’s a lot of things that can be done to help right away, but long-term, they need somebody who’s a leader, good at galvanising people, and then make sure that the guy they put in there is going to demand strong values and send out the right message that this club now is on the right path.”
Since Martin’s back-door exit at the Falkirk Stadium, it’s been under-19s coach Smith, B Team coach Brian Gilmour, performance coach Rhys Owen and goalkeeper coach Sal Bibbo holding the fort.
Rangers do have experience in the dressing room. Jack Butland, John Souttar, Kieran Dowell and captain James Tavernier make up the squad’s senior leadership team.
Dodds, though, believes a strong figurehead is needed in quickly.
“He (Tavernier) can only do so much so,” he said. “Tav’s not a really outspoken guy, he’s a quiet lad, does his talking on the pitch.
“There’s a group, the leadership core in there, but I wouldn’t say that it’s the old-school leaders where they’ll get all the team together and make a speech, it’s not like that.
“I think it’ll be collective as a unit, they’ll be probably saying to one another ‘we need it sorted, we need it sorted pretty quickly’.
“There’s no real standout leader, even though there’s the captain, the vice-captain, there’s a leadership group. I think the boys have got to get together, but they can only do so much.
“I think it’s up to the club’s hierarchy to get the managerial situation sorted out and maybe get a strong figure in there that’s a leader.”
