Ally McCoist names manager Rangers should have appointed instead of Russell Martin

Ally McCoist gave a brutal assessment of the situation at Rangers, following Russell Martin's sacking.

Martin's reign at Ibrox was brought to an end on Sunday after just 123 days in charge, as he was dismissed following a 1-1 draw with Falkirk.

The Englishman's exit was confirmed in a brief club statement, with it coming just hours after his side failed to beat their 10th-place opponents.

This was the latest disappointment in Martin's short tenure, after he managed to win just five of his 17 competitive games at the helm.

Rangers are eighth in the Scottish Premiership, already 11 points behind leaders Hearts, with just one league win.

And the situation at the club reached breaking point after the Falkirk match, withMartin forced to travel away from Falkirk Stadium in a separate vehicle from the team coach.

This was because Rangers fans blocked the team bus after the match ended, with the car Martin travelled in being flanked by security and police officers when it left the ground.

It wasn't long after this that the former Southampton boss lost his job, making him the shortest-serving manager in the club's history.

What was Ally McCoist's verdict?

Rangers great McCoist, who also managed the club from 2011 to 2014, has long been critical of the team's displays this season, and admitted Martin's sacking had not come as a shock.

Reacting to the news on talkSPORT Breakfast, he said: “The scenes were unsavoury and I don’t think did anybody any favours.

“However, the actual sacking of Russell Martin is certainly not a shock to anybody, or a surprise.

“I mean, the results, first and foremost - terrible. Do you know we’re sitting eighth in the table?

“We’ve got a negative goal difference, so listen there’s no surprise, I don’t think, at all.”

Rangers have started the league season poorly, managing their first win at the sixth attempt against Livingston on September 28, while they have also lost both of their opening Europa League games, including defeat to Sturm Graz on Thursday.

And while McCoist was in no doubt that Martin must take responsibility for Rangers' results, he stressed the club's issues go beyond just results on the pitch.

The talkSPORT host claimed Martin and his staff underestimated the size of the task in hand, as well as Rangers' new owners.

Back in May, a consortium led by Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises acquired a majority stake at Ibrox.

Asked by co-host Gabby Agbonlahor what the over-arching problems at the club are, McCoist continued: “I don’t know, because I’m obviously speaking from the outside looking in, but I think the new owners, and certainly the old management staff, probably underestimated the size of the job and the task.

“I think there’s a lot of people who just look at Scottish football and say ‘Celtic and Rangers will win their games and that’s it, finished’ but football is a lot more difficult and harder than that.

“I just think that aligned to really poor business in the transfer market, in terms of recruitment.

“I’m looking at that team, and it’s easy to blame the manager and that’s where the buck stops, it’s at the manager’s door - that’s what happens, but the players have got to take some of the responsibility.

“Some of the defending - did you see the goals Rangers lost in midweek? It was incredible.

“The buck rightly and understandably stops at the manager, but sometimes when you get on the pitch you’ve got to take responsibility, and Rangers just look like wee boys."

McCoist also claimed teams no longer fear facing Rangers, as he highlighted their away defeats to sides all outside of the top four.

He added: “The away games – you’ve been to St Mirren, Motherwell, Falkirk, it’s not as if you’ve been to Celtic, Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen.

“These are the games you’re expected to win. At this moment in time Rangers are incapable of going anywhere and giving their fans a massive degree of confidence wherever they’re playing.

“The opposition, no matter who they’re playing, smell blood.

“Unlike a wounded animal – a wounded animal can be very, very dangerous – Rangers are a wounded animal but look anything but dangerous.”

Who will replace Martin?

When asked who he would like to see take the reigns at Ibrox, McCoist admitted he felt Rangers had missed a trick by not appointing Frank Lampard before his appointment at to Coventry, having previously tipped him for the role.

He said: “I wish we'd taken my advice for the last one and that was Frank Lampard. That's what I said, right? My exact tip was Frank Lampard.

“And clearly Frank is doing exceptionally well now, and I think it would be nearly impossible to get him. But a lot of the people, myself included, I wouldn't mind at all.

“In fact, I'd quite like to see Steven Gerrard coming back. I don't think he will though but I think it's one of these situations where he probably has to, I don't know the ins and outs of it, I think he probably has to stay out of the country for a while for other reasons.

“After that, we probably missed the boat with Derek McInnes who's doing a fantastic job at Hearts. Other than that, I'm all ears.”

When asked whether he could make a sensational return to Ibrox, McCoist responded: "Alan Brazil would have a better chance than me."

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