Former Brighton boss Chris Hughton believes his old player Russell Martin can succeed at RangersFormer Brighton boss Chris Hughton believes his old player Russell Martin can succeed at Rangers
Former Brighton boss Chris Hughton believes his old player Russell Martin can succeed at Rangers | Getty Images
Former Brighton boss Chris Hughton believes Russell Martin can deliver
Russell Martin will use the negative end to his Southampton tenure in a positive way should he become the new Rangers head coach, according to his former boss Chris Hughton.
Davide Ancelotti, son of Carlo Ancelotti, and former MK Dons and Swansea manager Martin are reportedly frontrunners for the vacant post at Ibrox.
However, many Rangers fans are dismayed by the thought of the former Saints boss, who had a short loan spell as a player in Govan in 2018, being appointed by the new US-led consortium of owners.
Martin, who was captain under Hughton at Norwich, brought Southampton up to the Premier League through the play-offs in 2024 but was sacked by December as they headed back towards the Sky Bet Championship with one win from his first 16 games.
But former Albion boss Hughton offered a glowing character reference, saying on talkSPORT: “If I’m looking at Russell’s managerial background, he is known of course, for playing a certain way, very expansive in the way that he wants to play, very much a passing game and progression through the thirds.
“But he’s a strong personality also.
“He’s had a few knockbacks in his football career so far.
“I think any knockbacks, he will look at very much as experience and look to improve in every aspect that he can.
“I saw him recently, and he was in good form and really looking forward to getting back into the game.
“I think he’s had a few offers. So this is somebody that’s still very respected in the game, and of course, the roller coaster in management, there are always going to be ups and downs, but he’s a very confident individual and very confident in what he wants to do on the football pitch.
“He was very much a leader in the changing room, vocal in the meetings that we had and, of course, he was my voice when it came to any sort of direction on the players.
“So no surprise to me that he eventually went into management. He always showed those characteristics.
“And he was somebody that, as he improved in his career as a player, is of course very much looking to improve the same way in management.”
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