'Martin will get time but fans have lost patience'

Another day, another debacle for Russell Martin and his winless Rangers team in the Scottish Premiership.

Three games, three draws and sitting seventh in the table, already six points behind the team they're supposed to be closing the gap on. It's the worst start to a league season of any permanent Rangers manager in their history.

Listening to Martin, you wouldn't think that. Outwardly, at any rate, his confidence in his own ability seems untouched.

In the aftermath of the 1-1 draw against St Mirren, there was no mea culpa about anything, just words about how the players are not responding.

Martin also spoke, in withering terms, of some of his players with one eye out of Ibrox. He said Hamza Igamane, the promising striker who attracted a bid last week, claimed to be injured when called on to come on as a substitute after an hour.

Truth or deflection, it shines a light on the scale of the problems at Rangers.

Martin spoke about their poor start, their shortage of energy and courage, their tension and self-doubt. These things have been problems at Rangers for the longest time. He was brought in to fix them - and he's nowhere near.

There is a 'jam tomorrow' aspect to Martin, a promise that all will be well once the players understand his messaging. Maybe it's the message that's the problem.

And maybe it's the recruitment and other things.

Had Rangers, backed by new owners with supposed new money, moved decisively in early summer for Lennon Miller, could they have got him? Instead they went for Joe Rothwell. It's really hard to know what Rothwell is attempting to do out there.

They signed Nasser Djiga and Emmanuel Fernandez when they might have got a more dependable Scott McKenna.

They didn't spend the money to get a proven operator, Vaclav Cerny, back to the club after his successful loan spell. They have Oliver Antman in his position. Antman has flattered to deceive.

If Max Aarons is the best right-back they could find then you have to start asking who's looking and why.

It could be argued that Kieron Bowie, Josh Mulligan and Lawrence Shankland would have been better - and much cheaper - options than the players Rangers moved for.

There's talk of them trying to get Bojan Miovski on loan from Girona. Lord, do they need him.

If Igamane has downed tools and Danilo is, well, Danilo, then they have precious little up front. Cyriel Dessers is injured. They need a whole lot more. Against St Mirren they went without a natural centre-forward. It's a mess.

Martin said the other day that fans will criticise him for anything, including his hairstyle.

Add in his signings, his tactics, his team's lack of urgency and hunger for chunks of games, their lack of shape, pedestrian football, shortage of physicality, absence of goal threat, desperate vulnerability in defence and the sense that Martin, despite his confident talk, is toiling horribly and you have a greater picture of his malaise.

In Paisley, it was no surprise. That was the thing. No eyebrows raised, no jaws dropped, no gobs smacked.

This unfolded in the way most people thought it would unfold. St Mirren had a winning record against Rangers last season - two wins, one draw, one loss - and in establishing their lead they bullied their visitors.

Their goal involved two passes from the edge of their own penalty area, hesitant defending from Rangers centre-backs and a brilliant finish. St Mirren deserved it.

Just as Brugge head coach Nicky Hayen said last week that he knew where the space would be against Rangers, Stephen Robinson knew precisely where and how to target them.

Frankly, Robinson, tough, relentless and over-achieving, would be a better fit for Rangers than Martin. But, of course, Robinson is not glamorous.

He hasn't managed in the top flight in England, hasn't done it on the continent. Sometimes - many times - Rangers overlook the option staring them in the face.

The goals and chances that Rangers have conceded this season, no matter the configuration of their defence, have been amateur hour.

Djiga getting himself sent off against Dundee, playing dead while Alloa broke away for a goal, and gifting the opener to Brugge last week.

John Souttar, a shadow of his former self, and Fernandez, a £3.5m Martin signing, incapable of dealing with a two-on-one with Jonah Ayunga. The St Mirren striker dealt with both with ease.

Weak and slapstick. They're a defence that goes to pieces at the drop of a hat. A simple delivery from out wide or down the middle causes palpitations, defenders second-guessing each other, nobody taking command.

The lack of leadership in this Rangers team is getting more pronounced with each faltering performance, the lack of direction from Martin a growing issue.

They dug out a draw. They won the second half. On such crumbs is Martin feasting.

If titles were decided on percentage of possession and number of passes then Rangers would be going toe-to-toe with Celtic right now, but it's tedious. The amount of ball they have and the lack of creativity they possess is stark.

Rangers fans are going thermonuclear.

What chairman Andrew Cavenagh and vice-chairman Paraag Marathe are making of it is unclear.

They don't reside in the goldfish bowl, they are not susceptible to the howls of protest from fans - the players booed off again - so they're distant and maybe more patient as a consequence.

They're not Rangers fans, so there's not the mad emotional surge others in their place would have felt in previous times.

Martin is their guy. They've already said that there is a big job of work to be done on rebuilding a squad and creating a culture and the chances of them pulling the plug on that in weeks or months is not likely.

Starting again with a new manager with all the upheaval and financial cost entailed or giving their chosen one more time - maybe a lot more time - to build something decent? Right now, it's the latter.

Martin has to give people reasons to believe in him, though. He has done none of that so far. He's unlikely to do it against Brugge this week or against Celtic on Sunday.

Therein, lies another challenge for him. Last season, for all the faults of Philippe Clement, his Rangers team beat Celtic 3-0 at Ibrox in January. When Barry Ferguson took over, his team did at least win 3-2 at Celtic Park and drew 1-1 at Ibrox.

Those administrations weren't deemed good enough, but their Old Firm results will be held against Martin if he doesn't match them. It looks a mightily big ask.

After Celtic, he has the Edinburgh clubs at Ibrox. If none of those games are won then the toxicity is going to be unparalleled - and that's saying something.

Martin will get time to save himself. Whether he's got the talent is an entirely different question.

You'd say the jury is very much out, but the regular sound of booing will tell you that Rangers folk have already returned a unanimous verdict.