By Ross Pilcher

Copyright dailyrecord

It might be the angriest celebration of a 94th-minute winner ever. No sooner had Max Aarons fired through a ruck of bodies to secure Russell Martin’s first Premiership win as Rangers manager, the fans were singing for the manager to “get tae f***!” It wasn’t the first time that had been belted out at Livingston , but it was with renewed gusto despite their team having just gotten themselves out of jail. Mo Sylla’s leveller looked like winning the Lions a point after James Tavernier’s first-half penalty. But Aarons – one of the much-maligned summer signings under Martin – thumped home in the nick of time. It still might not be enough with Gers still nine points off the top of the table and performances showing little sign of improving to the required standard. And the pundits watching know the late goal was little more than a superficial sticking plaster. “Rangers in the first half should have been out of sight. Second half, they stopped doing what got them success in the first half. They went back to tippy-tappy, playing it around, touching the ball but really going nowhere. All of a sudden Livingston get the goal and get a lift. They asked questions of Rangers again. James Tavernier ends up playing three or four positions and they’re trying to move the whole thing around. Russell Martin says he’s going to stick to his principles and his game plan. But as soon as there’s that moment of need, everything gets shuffled about. “Listen it’s a result for Rangers but it’s papered over the cracks. Let’s not be kidded. Everybody tells us this place is a fortress. Livingston, the season before they went down, they were average at best here. Yeah they were good in the Championship. But they’re a team that’s been promoted and Rangers are leaving here with a 94th minute victory. It’s still not good enough for Rangers Football Club and it’s not going away. The fans will be delighted that the players have managed to find a way to get three points but that’s it. you can tell when that winning goal goes in, the first song the Rangers fans go to is towards Russell Martin and wanting him removed.. It’s a relief, but it’s papered over the cracks.” “They made it difficult for themselves because they never played to their strengths or did what got them joy in the first half. It took 20 minutes for Rangers to realise where the space was. They seemed to forget that at half-time because they reverted to type, everything was short and allowed Livingston to hop on any short passes. They were pressing in straight lines. “It wasn’t until Rangers ended up just throwing caution to the wind with every attacker on the pitch that they started to look threatening. The goal comes from a set piece at the end it’s huge for Max Aarons. He’s had a really difficult time of it anf was flug into a difficult situation today. But he’s the man that pops up with the good at the end.” “Russell Martin is stuck on this style, this formation, albeit he’s tweaked his midfielder but he’s going to play his way. Until it’s 1-1. Until you’re 1-0 down against St Mirren and he’s going to throw caution to the wind. Puts as many forward players as he can on and hope to get a result. Why not have that option from the start of a game? Or a change he can make that looks like it’s a measured change Instead it’s almost desperation to go and get a result. It worked to an extent against St Mirren and it worked today, but there’s no work on it or preparation on it. You can’t continue to make decisions like that. “Russell Martin sounds like he’s talking about anxiety to play the pass and getting in your head for your decision making. The anxiety is defensively. Livingston chase balls down, the force errors and the anxiety is there. What’s the message? I can understand a bit of anxiety because Rangers aren’t in terrible form and Livingston started great. After 20 mins, they got that under control so where is the anxiety coming from?” “I was watching the players at the back, they were really unsure about their roles and the set up. What you have at a football club is you go through different scenarios, whether you down to ten men or go to a back three, so everyone knows that. You run through it day-in, day-out. You go through it in pre-season, so it becomes automatic. It was anything but automatic; they were all over the place at that point in time. “But what got them a win was running forward, putting balls into the box, a bit of intensity, pressure and desire. That’s what got Rangers a win this afternoon so they’ve got to learn from that. It’s clear to see that slow build-up, the way they go about their business at times isn’t going to win you games of football so they got out of jail a little bit this afternoon. They’ve got to be better organised structurally because there were so many players unsure of what they were doing.” “It must be horrible for Russell Martin and his family and anyone who is connected with him. It’s not nice to see anyone go through that. But the feeling of the Rangers fans towards the manager, I don’t think a victory at Livingston is going to change anything.”