By Keith Jackson

Copyright dailyrecord

Rangers have confirmed a list of managerial candidates have thrown their names into the ring in the race to replace beleaguered boss Russell Martin . But the embattled Ibrox hierarchy remain adamant that no initial discussions have been held with any of the would-be contenders. A top level club source contacted Record Sport after we broke the news on Tuesday’s Hotline Live that the back-channelling has already begun with a number of highly rated managers already in the mix to take over if and when Martin is put out of his misery. The official position of the Rangers board is that they are still backing Martin to recover from a nightmarish start to his reign as head coach – which has seen his side dumped out of the Champions League qualifiers and plummeting to 10th position in the domestic top flight table. But they admit they have been made aware of the availability of a number of ready made replacements who have made it clear they would be willing, ready and able to step into the dugout if a decision is taken to swing the axe. The club source insists that any conversations with interested parties have been entirely ‘one way’ and that Rangers are not actively engaged in nor seeking discussions with Martin’s potential successors. That’s despite demands for the immediate removal of the 39-year-old who has failed to win any of his first five Premiership games – the worst start of any Ibrox boss in almost 50 years. Rangers reacted to a 2-0 home defeat against Hearts on Saturday by making it clear that the head coach still enjoys the confidence and support of his superiors such as chief executive Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell. The official word was that, despite angry protests from supporters’ groups who have demanded the heads of both Martin and Stewart, no action would be taken ahead of this weekend’s Premier Sports Cup quarter final against Hibs. New owner Andrew Cavenagh is expected to attend that last eight tie and will have the chance to gauge the depth of feeling on the ground in Glasgow for himself if he does make the trip across the Atlantic from Philadelphia. Fans have planned further protests outside the front door of the stadium before kick-off and a second successive home defeat would almost certainly have catastrophic consequences for Martin, just 13 games into his first season in charge. He has recorded just one domestic win in his first two months at the helm – a 4-2 cup victory over third tier outfit Alloa. Before suffering defeat against Hearts on Saturday, Martin had managed four back-to-back draws in the league against Motherwell, Dundee, St Mirren and Celtic – a string of results which has left Rangers third bottom in the table and trailing nine points off the pace at the top. Heightening the pressure on the club’s new American owners, furious fans are turning away in their droves with a paltry pick up in Europa League tickets so far and thousands of empty seats still available for this weekend’s quarter final. Martin has admitted that his players are too scared to perform to the level he expects of them and attempted to lift flagging morale among his squad by organising a day trip to Loch Lomond on Monday, during which they went wild water swimming and hill walking together.