By Mark Atkinson

Copyright scotsman

Rangers head coach Russell Martin has been told to be “brave” as he fights for his long-term future at Ibrox ahead of huge match against Hibs this weekend. Martin is facing a major fan backlash after failing to win any of his first give games in the Premiership as Rangers manager, with prominent supporter group Union Bears leading a protest against his tenure ahead of Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final at Ibrox. Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh is jetting in from the United States to attend the match and will witness first-hand the growing discontent at what is going on at Ibrox. The board have continued to back Martin despite the demand for his sacking. And a former teammate of Martin at Rangers in Alan Hutton is urging the embattled coach to stay strong as he tries to breed confidence to his players – although the former full-back admits defeat by Hibs would almost certainly signal the end for him. “I played with him at Scotland, so I know what type of guy he is; what type of character,” said Hutton. “He’s very confident, he believes in his philosophy. I know people who did their licences with him and they’ve said he speaks very well and that his training sessions were very good. “So I did know a bit about him before he got the Rangers job … but this is completely different. I mean it as no disrespect to any of the other clubs he’s managed at, but I don’t think he’ll ever have been at a place where every single move and decision is as scrutinised as it is up here. It’s just completely elevated to the next level, and he won’t have had to deal with that in his managerial career up until now. “I think he has to be brave at this moment in time. I’m looking at his press conferences after games, and he speaks well, but he just looks a bit like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. Look, I get it, but ultimately, he’s the guy who’s going to have to get that confidence into these players, and get them back to the level we expect them to be at. “The only way he can turn things around right now is by going on an incredible run of winning games – of course, that’s going to be difficult based on what we’ve seen so far. “I look at the squad right now and can see the manager is obviously trying to play a certain way; he’s brought in a lot of young players which means there’s room for improvement there and he can mould them into the style that he wants. But I just think they’re really missing some leaders there … some characters within the dressing room who will drag the team through when the chips are down.” The ire against Martin was turned up another notch after Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat by Hearts, which has left Rangers tenth in the Premiership. Hutton feels he is one more bad result away from the point of no return. “I know going into the Hearts game that it was going to be a tricky tie – they’ve obviously been playing really well so far this season and deserve to be where they are in the table,” said Martin. “Rangers have struggled up until the international break, and of course there have already been question marks around Russell Martin’s future. “He’s been backed so much by the board, he’s trying to change things and I thought after the international break that he would be safe. But now I’m looking at it again, after that Hearts performance … it’s Hibs next, at Ibrox, this weekend in the League Cup, and if they don’t get a victory there, I think it’s going to be very difficult for him to continue. “We’ve seen how the crowd are reacting to him, particularly when he came out for the second-half at the weekend… it’s hard to watch. Things are turning toxic, and he’s got to change that, and quick. He’s been given the money to change this team around completely … now he needs to start getting results. Results are what win the fans over. “The bottom line, when you’re at Rangers or Celtic, is that you’re scrutinised right from the very first moment you take over. At most clubs, you’ll bring in your own players and you might get a bit of time to change things – but here you need to be winning games at the same time, and up to this point he’s just struggled to get anything going.” Hutton has witnessed first-half a terrible start to a season with Rangers. He was part of the squad that really struggled to adapt to French head coach Paul Le Guen’s ways during the 2006/07 campaign. His tenure only lasted six months. “I think back to my own time at the club, and would say the closest we came to the current situation would have been around 2006. First of all, in the 05/06 season, we’d finished third in the league, behind Celtic and Hearts. I mean, that’s just a complete disaster; there’s no getting away from that. You’re in a league where it’s constantly a two-horse race, where finishing second is unacceptable in Glasgow. “So finishing third? You can imagine… you don’t want to leave the house. It means so much to you; I grew up going through all the youth levels, supporting the club, then getting to the first-team and playing. So it probably means more to me in that respect, because you understand what the fans are going through. “Then, in the summer of 2006, Paul Le Guen came in, and that was a difficult time for us, for sure. He came in as a foreign manager and tried to change the whole culture of the club overnight. There were a lot of Scottish players in the squad at the time and they just didn’t really ever see eye-to-eye with him. There was a squad overhaul as well in that summer, and I don’t think that some of the guys who came in were the right fit for the club. “Le Guen was very much stuck in his ways; it was his way or the highway. You know, he tried to get rid of some of the senior players, and massive characters like Barry Ferguson … players who were proper leaders, loved by everyone. It just didn’t work out for him and we always felt like we could see it coming, that he’d be out of the door fairly quickly. “It was a disaster from early on and then the rest of the season was just about fighting back and climbing our way back into things, while ultimately accepting that is wasn’t – and would never be – good enough, unfortunately. “With Russell Martin it’s a bit different. He’s a different character to Le Guen, but he has tried to change a lot in a short space of time, like Le Guen did. The overhaul in the squad has been dramatic, he’s brought in some very young players which can put you at a bit of a disadvantage at times. You know, the hierarchy has changed everything is moving really quickly at the club right now, in such a short period of time – I don’t think any of it has helped the manager.” Adding in an interview with Ladbrokes at the launch of Ladisfaction, Hutton said: “There’s a balance to changing things and picking up wins, which Russell hasn’t found yet. There are similarities, I suppose, between Le Guen’s time in charge and what we’re looking at with Russell now, but the biggest would be that both have tried to change things very quickly.”