By Ben Banks

Copyright scotsman

Rangers have sacked Russell Martin after Hearts’ lead over the Ibrox side in the Premiership extended to 11 points this weekend. A 1-0 Edinburgh derby win over Hibs for the Jambos piled pressure on the under-fire head coach, who has already had Rangers fans protest against his continued employment. They drew 1-1 at newly-promoted Falkirk on Sunday to leave them on a staggering one win in seven and in the bottom six, with Martin axed after just 123 days. The Jambos are top of the league heading into the October international break and have already defeated Rangers at Ibrox, winning 2-0. Anger boiled over on Sunday in Grangemouth as fans gathered around the away bus after full-time, and Martin was soon relieved of his duties at a rival of Hearts and Hibs, alongside his coaching staff before the day was done. 49ers Enterprises and US health insurance tycoon Andrew Cavenagh bought over the club in the summer and have made an early season call for a change in direction. A statement from Rangers read: “Rangers Football Club confirms that it has parted company with Head Coach, Russell Martin. While all transition periods require some time, results have not met the club’s expectations. Assistant Head Coach, Matt Gill, and First-Team Coach, Mike Williamson, will also be departing. “Russell and his staff have worked exceptionally hard throughout their time at the club. We thank them for their efforts and wish them well for the future. Further updates from the club will follow in due course.” Speaking after the Falkirk game, Martin said: “I felt like we were getting more and more comfortable as the game went on, and we thought we were going to go and score another one. Then we have a moment where we compete and we come out the wrong side, happens too many times, and it takes a deflection and goes in. “They were only going to score in that sort of way and then the game becomes open again and we have to go and try to play for a winner. We had a good chat in there with the guys, the players had an honest chat with each other, I gave them my thoughts, and I think that’ll stay in there. “Too many moments we come out on the wrong side, it’s frustrating. The guys that have been here quite a while, they’ve been saying the same things for a long time, so maybe it’s not just right here and right now. “Ultimately it’s my job to try and address it, so I have to take responsibility for that. It’s just too many occasions where it’s like a toss of a coin if we’re going to come out with the ball or not, or if we’re going to really show for the ball or not. Some of the football we played was fine, but we come out on the wrong side of another big moment where we challenge for the ball, don’t quite get it, and we don’t adjust and make up for the mistake.”