SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 15: Russell Martin, Manager of Southampton, reacts during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at St Mary's Stadium on December 15, 2024 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Tonight, the Ibrox club plays its first game of the season, and that already feels like an extraordinary sentence to write on 22 July. But it’s a fact, and it’s also a vision of our own future, because we’re going to be playing early qualifiers in Europe ourselves over the next couple of years. That’s the price of Scotland’s dire coefficient. It’s something we badly need to put right as a nation.
This is one of those moments where we can either sit around mourning the state of things and wishing they were different, or we can make a vow to do better here and now so that later, we give ourselves a better chance again.
For every other club in this league, the picture is about as bleak as it gets.
Scottish clubs should savour this season in Europe, because unless there’s an unforeseen miracle, it’s as good as it’s going to be for quite some time. More qualifiers are in our future as we try to claw our way back up the rankings.
First place will still get you a Champions League spot. Second place no longer will. And once we lose that second team in the competition, there’s no easy way back.
Martin has gone out of his way to tell the hacks and everyone else that this won’t be a season-defining night. He’s dead wrong about that.
They need to win tonight, and win comfortably, or else they face an extremely uncomfortable night in Greece. A night which, whether Martin likes it or not, will in many ways define their season. Dropping into the Europa League wouldn’t be a disaster in and of itself—they’ve had some decent nights in that competition if you believe the press and their own hype—and with a fortunate draw they might perform reasonably well if they can get that squad to gel.
But in order to reach the group stages of that tournament, they’d face either Besiktas or Shakhtar Donetsk. And neither of those is the kind of game you want if you’re chasing financial stability and European credibility.
A lot of them believe that even the Conference League would be acceptable—that it might even be a good thing, because they could win it. That’s not nearly as straightforward as it sounds in their deluded minds. But enough of them believe it that they’d be ready to deploy it, if needed, as a smokescreen.
None of them should kid themselves.
Dropping out of both of the top two European competitions would be a disaster. It would be catastrophic for their entire sense of self. And worse still, it would be Armageddon for their finances. Their chances of finishing the season with anything other than an eight-figure loss would drop to just about zero.
Right now, they have over 30 first-team players on the books.
They’ve been trying—vainly—to drum up interest in some of them, aided and abetted by a media that knows the situation over there is chronic, verging on critical. And whilst Celtic have taken stick for not spending enough, on the sales side of the equation we’ve done remarkably well. As usual.
The sad truth for them is that, in their moment of need, they haven’t yet managed to sell anyone for a meaningful fee. Which leaves them carrying the weight of players like Cifuentes, Matondo, Davies, Danilo and others—some of whom they’re trying to reinvent as stars-in-waiting. But we all know they don’t have it, and never will, no matter what kind of spin they put on it. They would dearly love to get these guys off the wage bill. It’s just not happening.
So yes, we will criticise the Celtic transfer policy.
But it has a coherence to it. An internal logic that’s hard to deny. We usually make sure that, before we spend serious money, we can make a corresponding sale. That way, we stay financially stable. We don’t overextend.
By contrast, for a club that desperately needed to make a major sale this summer, it was madness to go on a spending spree before getting that deal done. That fact is now beginning to hit home.
And as bad as things are now with that bloated, overpaid squad, things get a whole lot worse if they drop out of the Champions League and then the Europa. Because UEFA’s new financial rules are clear: clubs can only spend 70% of football earnings on wages, agents, and transfer fees. The more debt you’ve got and the less you earn the closer you are to that line, and the harder life gets.
Martin may be right in one narrow sense: this match doesn’t technically define their season. They’ll still be competitive in Scotland.
But if they can’t sell anyone, and if they crash out of both tournaments, the financial pressure will define next season—and the one after that. Because that 70% ceiling works on a three-year rolling average. If you fail to bring in the big income this year, it limits what you can spend next year and the year after.
And it’s frankly laughable to suggest that this won’t impact the season ahead. He needs credibility with the fans, many of whom don’t like him, don’t want him, and don’t believe he’s the right man for the job.
They’ve already pointed to several mistakes—like failing to arrange enough pre-season games to properly prepare the squad. Some of the long-serving players have spoken in the media about how things “aren’t the same” as they’ve been in the past.
The media wants to interpret that as a compliment—some sort of positive culture shift—but it might not be. It might mean that not everyone’s buying into this. That some players don’t like what they’re being asked to do.
News that Martin recently disciplined the squad for a series of internal breaches is probably just the tip of the iceberg. A new boss needs credibility from day one. And with doubts already swirling around him—and enough people thinking he’s a spaced-out, new-age hippie type—it’s not hard to imagine a dressing room going cold on him fast.
There’s even talk he brought in some old Ibrox veterans to “fire up” the players. If that’s true, that’s a problem in itself. You can’t outsource authority. You can’t be taken seriously as a boss if you need someone else to do your shouting for you. And who has the patience to sit through a lecture from some halfwit like Brown? Professional footballers won’t tolerate that kind of rubbish for long.
Tonight is massive. The media can dress it up however they like. Martin can pretend it’s not make-or-break. But if they lose tonight, and then get knocked out of the Europa as well, that club will be plunged into full-scale crisis.
It’s not hyperbole. It’s just a statement of fact.
Because that’s exactly what they’d be in: a crisis.
At that point, they won’t be holding out for top dollar on their squad. They’ll be engaged in a fire sale—selling not to strengthen, not to back the manager, but to keep the wolf from the door.
So yes, tonight is interesting. It’s high-pressure. And while the result won’t be definitive in and of itself, Martin is delusional if he thinks the outcome of this tie won’t define his season. It’ll do that and a lot more.
Saying there’s a lot riding on it is the understatement of the year.
Everything is riding on it.
Russell Martin may have said those words James,but i doubt that’s what he thinks or believes. Let’s see how he reacts if it goes tits up tonight.
Not only will the game tonight define their season, it will probably also define Martin’s shelf life as a manager. A bad result and he will automatically be judged as a failure by the blue hordes, they are a very unforgiving bunch and the knives will be out right away. It is going to be a long hard season for the next head on Brendan’s trophy wall, that is if he lasts the season.
I couldn’t believe Martin Russells!!!! comments yesterday. He obviously didn’t hear the booing at halftime in there recent friendly. He could be gone much quicker than the normal 10 month contract for a Sevco manager if they miss out on both the main Euro gigs. He walking wounded already with that support over there
Come on you (Greek) bhoys in green!
I will be watching , I don’t normally watch that lot unless they are playing celtic
Watching in the hope they get destroyed and to finally see if the real rangers ( no laughing at the back)are going to show up this season.
Meanwhile, up the golf club .. the huns are giddy with excitement hoping and praying they get a result tonight to stop myself and others ripping the pish right outta them .
Got to play a hun in next round of club championship. I am gonna destroy him. I predict a 4 and 3 victory for me .
Mon the hoops , hail hail
If they were playing in the street I wouldnae look oot the windae.
If they were playing in my street I would draw the curtains!
As I’ve previously said, I don’t take much interest in the Ibrokes club, unless it’s there to be read on here or other sites.
Their fate is very much in their own hands, and I don’t know enough about either club playing tonight, to try and presume how the match will transpire.
The certain facts are that UEFA will be keeping an eye on their finances, as will FARE on their fans’ behaviour!
An interesting night ahead !
Is it time to crack open the Ouzo?
HH
“Crack open the Ouzo?” – Gerry, that brought back a hangover from hell just reading the words!
PortoJoe, lol…
Having just came in and seen their result, it looks like we’ll need to pop the Ouzo onto the top shelf until next week is clarified!
Folks, Get ready for the reporting of this year’s CL winners, after tonight!
I suppose the warning to the Ibrokes hordes may be, “beware of Greeks bearing gifts!”
What will be, will be ! HH
There is about £40m on the line if they don’t qualify.
European income is the main reason that the Americans invested in the first place.
They do seem to be a bit ill prepared for tonight’s game.
The coefficient issue is a problem, we don’t want to be playing qualifiers now like the tribute act are but I obviously can’t bring myself to hope they get a result. I don’t, I hope they get hammered. Somehow Panathinaikos are an unmissable 4/1. So that means it’s up to Scotland’s other Europa League and Conference League teams to spring a few surprises or at least do themselves justice. UEFA’s constant pandering to the so called ‘big 5’ leagues is the real problem, granting them ever more places. The next tier of leagues still have decent competition, Holland, Portugal, even Belgium. There are maybe some signs that Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen are getting better, let’s hope so.
A good post Brattbakk, and I certainly agree!
We do need our other Scottish teams to do well, ( for a change,) and help our co-efficient!
Like most of our fanbase, it doesn’t sit well that they might get a positive result!
Martin is already trying to lower the expectations of the Loyal[until half time]hordes, I’ll be watching with interest, as to me The Rangers 2012 are at a critical point in their short history.
Failure to qualify for either of the top two Euro Tournaments will result in 5 years of austerity to try and survive. The American investors will not throw good money after bad. They now own the few assets that The Rangers possess, which the Real Rangers Men sold off cheaply to them, as they were fed up throwing their good money away on confetti shares, whilst taking abuse from the self entitled Ibrox fans. Plus UEFA have their card marked. Interesting times.
It’s a stretch to say I feel sorry for Russell Martin, I don’t know why they haven’t had a preseason but they do seem underprepared and Martin will take the blame if it goes tits up.
There will be a crisis at the klub from ibrox but the press won’t use that word to describe it,they are to scared.
When the crisis arises the press will make it look like a badge of honour for new klub from ibrox to wear.
Given that they are now a company registered in Delaware USA how much Financial Transparency or Reality do you expect to filter through to UEFA via Sevco’s brothers in the SFA?
This is the modern day version of a business that went into liquidation with debts of over £70M and was part of a Group of Companies that had debts of over £700M in the little country of Scotland!!
The difficulty for clubs from countries outside of the “frozen north” is that these big money games happen in pre-season and it’s very difficult to get match ready for them. Having said that we seem to be further progressed with our pre-season than Sevco. That perception will become reality if a result is not achieved this evening.
I can see the media rallying behind Martin if they win tonight but lose the tie by the odd goal/on penalties in the oven/sauna/Death Valley conditions of Athens next week (even if it’s only 25c they will roll out the excuses).
I think I’m right in thinking that our Scottish coefficient is based on match (not tie) results – so a 1-0 home win followed by a 5-0 drubbing…nah, I’ll just cheer on the Dons, the Hibernian and the Tangerines.
Very fortunate the Greeks never had better finishers or it would’ve been over after only the 1st half. They only came into it after they scored with the sendin off right after it. Tho the win will obviously gloss over the reality. Goals were taken well, tho saw nothin else that impressed from either side.
Only found out the result at 11pm and disappointment is the feeling…
1-0 And they probably go out next week…
That second goal changes it though…
It really is eachy peachy now and the ball is in the Greeks court now as they have to simply come out and attack…
If Panathinaikos get extra time they might win in the heat but Sevco are anointed enough in Europe to see it out sadly !
Once again in Europe the huns get very, very lucky, they have their goalie to thank for that. They were outplayed for most of the match by a superior side. However, knowing their luck, they could fluke the return leg as well.
Fk the coefficient, I want them to endure nothing but constant anguish.
Again with The Rangers2012 we see Grit and Determination conquer Pace and Skill in Europe, everything about the Ibrox mobs games in the Euro League over the past few years defies logic. I’ve watched team after team outplay them when it comes to skill, pace and possession but not in scoring goals and that’s all that matters. That’s what makes Football such a great game, there are different ways of winning games, hopefully the Greeks find their shooting boots next week but they have a mountain to climb.
As far as our team are concerned, I don’t see a lot of difference between Clements team and Martins, match them in grit and determination and our superior skill will tip the balance in our favour. Underestimate them in any way and we’ll pay the price and struggle against them as we did in 4 games last season.
Martin is no mug but hasn’t the experience of BR.
Well, that’s an unfortunate headline! I certainly hope last night’s result doesn’t define their season!!