‘The number 56 will be too much for Russell Martin’. Keevins writes Martin off before his team kicks a ball, making Celtic favourites for 56

Back in 2021, Hugh Keevins wrote Ange Postecoglou off as a man who hadn’t a clue about how football was played in Europe and the UK.

He said he was out of his depth, and that his name stood for Absolutely Not Good Enough.

A man who was in the wrong movie and the wrong country.

Four short years later, Ange Postecoglou departs Tottenham Hotspur with his head held high.

In those four short years, he landed five trophies in Scotland with Celtic, and a major European title with Tottenham.

Not bad for a guy who was appearing in the wrong movie.

So, bearing all of that in mind, forgive me if I treat this morning’s article from Keevins on Russell Martin with the same contempt.

Back in 2021, Ibrox fans howled with laughter at the appointment of Ange Postecoglou as Celtic manager.

They thought their dominance of Scottish football was sown up with as a result of it, as did Hugh Keevins.

Celtic fans are doing the same today when it comes to Russell Martin.

Now, I refuse to compare Russell Martin’s appointment to that of Ange Postecoglou four years ago.

You simply cannot compare the two appointments.

Because there is no comparison.

Ange Postecoglou was a serial winner when he joined Celtic, having won 13 major honours in his time as a manager before his arrival here.

Russell has won a Championship play-off trophy, and that is it.

He has a 40% win ratio, and it seems his footballing philosophy is the only slight positive he has going for him.

He is a manager who believes in playing the possession game, building from the back, passing forward and attacking the opposition.

It was brutally exposed last season in the EPL, as his Southampton side was picked off with ease by superior sides as they attempted to play out from the back.

Ironically, it was Ange Postecoglou, a man with a similar philosophy, and similar principles, who taught him the footballing lesson which was the catalyst to his sacking in December 2024.

Ange Postecoglou’s insistence on sticking to his own principles, and not deviating from his playing style resulted in his Tottenham side finishing 17th in last season’s EPL table.

It also cost him his job at Tottenham.

Despite the fact he landed them their first major trophy since 2008, and a European title at that.

Postecoglou and Martin – it appears – are kindred spirits in that regard.

And if anybody wants to make comparisons to them, it should be in that regard.

Not in the way the SMSM have been making them.

Unlike Keevins, however, I am not going to write off Russell Martin before his Ibrox team has kicked a ball in anger.

If there’s one thing I can spot already in this guy’s tenure early on, it’s that he’s not stupid.

In fact, he’s actually quite intelligent, and he speaks well.

Yes, I know he made all the right soundbites in his first interview for the club, but what else is he going to say?

He’s hardly going to come in and brag that he’s going to win all around him, is he?

Martin strikes me as a man who might not get corrupted by the madness and insanity of Ibrox.

Simply because he’s a deep thinker himself.

Especially if he follows Buddhism and it’s core principles.

The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism forms eight principles, two of them in particular would indicate his incompatibility with the beliefs of your average Ibrox fan:

Those two being right thought and right speech:

• Right Thought: Cultivating thoughts of compassion, kindness, and wisdom, and avoiding greed, hatred, and violence.
• Right Speech: Avoiding harmful speech like lying, gossiping, and harsh words, and speaking truthfully and kindly.

You can immediately see where these two cultures would be incompatible.

If Martin follows principles like these, then that immediately sets him apart from previous Ibrox managers.

All too often, the men who have gone before him have been swallowed into the culture and insanity which permeates the walls of Ibrox.

Add to that, the last remnants of the old board will depart the building on the 23rd of June.

Taking with them the last remnants of the old culture, and paving the way for a new culture to begin.

The new owners, as we already know, are not interested in the current Ibrox culture.

Therefore, they are unlikely to foster it in any way.

They are also unlikely to appease the Ibrox support in any way.

That in itself presents it’s own set of problems for them.

Seeing how they deal with it in the coming months and years will be interesting, though.

So, for Russell Martin starting out on his path as Ibrox manager, things are immediately different.

Much different to what his predecessors faced.

The media, Keevins included, because they are incapable of changing their viewpoint on how things should transpire at Ibrox, are demanding immediate success from him.

They’re basically telling him that if he doesn’t deliver it, then he’s toast.

Which is perfectly exampled by this statement from Keevins:

Martin’s three-year contract at Ibrox is, for those ultra- pessimistic regarding his arrival there, split into two parts.

One year’s wages followed by two years’ compensation when his unsuitability for the role of manager necessitates the termination of his employment.

It is the insult he has to work hard to prove is inaccurate.

In other words, unless he proves he can deliver trophies and stop Celtic from winning title 56, he will be fired.

Keevins, however, seems to dismiss the fact that Martin will be operating under the new owners of the club.

The very same owners who are on record stating that things may have to get worse at Ibrox before they get better.

The press might be howling for him to stop Celtic from winning title number 56.

It seems that his new paymasters may not share the same opinion.

To underestimate what Russell Martin might or might not do at Ibrox is a fool’s errand right now.

Because he is commencing his employment there in a completely new environment.

The media, and Keevins, are unable to compute that.

There is a very strong possibility that Russell Martin may be given time to build something at Ibrox.

In spite of what those supporters who have written him already are demanding.

In spite of a media that’s already telling him he has to stop Celtic from winning their 56th title.

Nobody cares about the number 56 anyway.

All this ridiculous fixation with title numbers was created by the glib and shameless liar back in 2016.

It applied insane pressure on the then manager, Mark Warburton, who was in a state of disbelief when he saw the “#going for 55” slogans unfurled at Ibrox before he commenced the club’s inaugural season in the Scottish Premiership.

Especially since it was a complete lie.

Do you think Liverpool will be unveiling “#going for 21” slogans all over Anfield before next season’s EPL season starts?

The fact that Keevins is using this as a stick to beat Martin with before he even starts the season, shows just how disconnected the media is from the reality of this takeover.

56 will be meaningless to the new owners.

In fact, they’re probably smart enough to know and accept that the Ibrox club is a new club.

And that they’ll be going for their second title if they’re even capable of competing for it.

The early signs are indicating that they won’t be.

Because Russell Martin isn’t going to be handed a £20 million warchest.

In fact, he’s already talking about retaining James Tavernier as club captain.

Which means very little is going to change in the short term, and he’s been told he has to work with what he’s got.

But, even bearing all of that in mind, if you asked me if I’m going to underestimate Russell Martin, and what he might bring to the table, my answer will remain the same.

No, I’m not going to.

I’m not going to laugh at his appointment like my fellow Celtic fans.

Why, you might ask?

Well, it’s simple really.

It’s because I know nothing about the guy.

I’ve never followed his progress as a football manager, I didn’t even take any notice of his sacking last December.

Everybody, including the media are expecting him to go the way of all of his predecessors.

Simply because they just aren’t adaptive to change.

But they’d better believe change is coming at Ibrox.

It’s already started with the appointment of Russell Martin as head coach.

Because Martin is not your typical candidate for the Ibrox job, he’s very different to what went before him.

People wonder why Barry Ferguson held positive talks with Kevin Thelwell, and then ended up being dropped like a hot snot three days later?

Maybe his in your face, brash, uncouth, real Raynjurz man attitude just didn’t fit in with the ideology of the new owners?

And Russell Martin’s does?

Did that never occur to anyone in the media?

So, unlike Hugh Keevins, the entirety of the rest of the media, the Ibrox fanbase, and our fanbase, I will reserve my judgement of Russell Martin until I can actually see what he’s capable of.

Or incapable of.

Since everyone thinks he’s incapable of doing the job there before he’s even started.

He might surprise a lot of people.

He might not.

Personally, I hope he doesn’t surprise anyone, and that he crashes and burns.

That’s me looking at it through green tinted specs, though.

But I can’t help feeling things are going to be different over there in the coming season.

I don’t see a threat to our dominance in the short-term.

But in the long-term, who knows?

I get the feeling Russell Martin will be given time to build something at Ibrox.

Which in and of itself is an alien concept.

I guess a lot depends on how our board reacts to this as well.

This summer will tell us how they view the takeover.

Russell Martin is not the manager many expected to be in place over there for the coming season.

But in place he is, along with the new owners.

Will we be laughing at it all this time next year?

I guess we’ll find out.

One way, or the other.

No doubt Keevins will make several inane predictions throughout the year, none of which will come to pass.

Like the Ibrox club, they are both dinosaurs in their own right.

But it looks like one may be about to be pulled out of the Mesozoic Era.

While the other will remain there for the rest of his days.