As predicted, Martin and his hapless charges drop points in front of the Sky Sports cameras, opening the door for Celtic to go 9 clear…

Well, I wasn’t very wide of the mark with Friday evening’s article on yesterday’s contest in Paisley, as the Ibrox side conspired to drop another two points in the League.

I predicted they would either draw or lose, and I was certain they would not get a win.

Russell Martin and his hapless charges now find themselves 6 points adrift of Celtic and top spot.

By next Sunday afternoon, they could find themselves 9 points adrift of top spot, and barring a complete and utter implosion from Celtic (which could happen, thanks to our board), their season will be over by matchday 4.

When this season started, I didn’t imagine I’d be writing sentences like that this early in the campaign.

But this is where we are.

Now, a Glasgow Derby is always a good opportunity for a manager to restore people’s ailing faith in him.

Thankfully, we have every faith in our manager at the moment.

The same cannot be said for Russell Martin.

The Ibrox fans want him gone, and gone yesterday.

Sunday is a day where things could turn particularly nasty at Ibrox.

As I’ve stated plenty of times in the last few articles, this week is make or break for both Glasgow clubs.

For us, tomorrow night’s game is critical.

We need to overcome that hurdle and qualify, which will also give us a huge boost going into Sunday’s game at Ibrox.

To be fair to the manager, I think his squad management on Saturday was exemplary.

He knew we needed to be as strong and as alert as possible going into tomorrow night’s tie, so resting all of the players he did, and still managing to get a 3-0 win, was excellent squad management.

The same cannot be said for Russell Martin.

He chose to start yesterday without a recognised striker in his starting line up.

Whether that was down to his own version of squad management in advance of their tie against Brugge, or something else entirely, is hard to know.

Whatever it was about, it proved disastrous in the first half against St. Mirren.

As expected, Stephen Robinson’s side bullied and harassed them from the off.

Tactically, they were all over the place, with some players clearly not able to fully understand what their roles were.

It took a goal from an 18 year old kid to spare them the blushes of a 1-0 loss.

In reality, they were lucky to leave Paisley with a point in the end.

You begin to wonder if Russell Martin is going to go down as the worst ever Ibrox manager since they began their existence back in 2012?

Based on yesterday’s performance, they could be on the end of an extreme mauling against Brugge on Wednesday night.

The mood amongst their fanbase is sour enough at the moment, add that into the mix on Sunday, and you have a recipe for what could turn into an extremely toxic atmosphere if we take the game to them from the get go.

Daizen Maeda is due a decent performance, and he won’t get a better opportunity than at Ibrox to come good.

If we play him through the middle he could be lethal, as he always seems to turn it on in these games.

Judging by the way Martin’s players performed yesterday, I could see them wilting against us.

Especially if they’ve been on the end of a tanking in Bruge on Wednesday night.

Which you’d expect, after the way Brugge took them apart in the first half last Tuesday evening.

If they lose against us after that, and find themselves 9 points adrift, its hard to see Martin surviving that outcome.

The boys in Delaware will have some decisions to make.

There is no doubting they’ve backed him in the transfer market.

But will they come to the realisation that they’ve backed a busted flush?

A busted flush, who has wasted their money on players who can’t seem to cut it in the rough and tumble of Scottish Premiership thus far.

This coming week is a huge week for both Glasgow sides, but for very differing reasons.

Brendan Rodgers won’t be fighting for his survival, whatever the outcome.

But it looks like Russell Martin sure as hell will be.

Matchday 4.

Who’d have thought we’d be at this juncture this early?

Yet here we are.

I thought they’d fight hard for 56.

But the problem is I don’t think half of the players at Ibrox even understand their rivalry with us.

I guess they’ll get a baptism of fire on Sunday.

Especially if their own fans turn on them.

We don’t do walking away.

Unless were 3-0 by the 20th minute, that is.

Fun times at comedy club Sevco.

Roll on Sunday!