Russell Martin at last enjoyed some positivity as Rangers manager with a 2-0 Premier Sports Cup quarter-final win over Hibernian on a day of fan protests against him at Ibrox.
Andrew Cavenagh, the club’s chair, had flown in from the United States amid a growing sense of crisis, with disgruntled fans protesting against Martin and the chief executive, Patrick Stewart, outside the stadium before the game and also at the start of the match. The turning point came when Hibs’ captain, Martin Boyle, had a goal ruled out in the 19th minute for handball, with frustrated Light Blues supporters ready to explode in anger again.
The returning Rangers midfielder Nico Raskin headed in a James Tavernier corner in the 42nd minute before the striker Bojan Miovski added a second in added time with his first goal for the Govan side since signing from Girona. It took Rangers into the semi-final draw along with St Mirren, Motherwell and the winners of Sunday’s tie between Partick Thistle and Celtic at Firhill.
“It was actually right during the team talk, but it’s like I said to the guys, I can’t control any of it,” said Martin of the pre-match protest. “And also a bit of perspective, like I said, yesterday in the press conference about some family stuff this week that’s been really difficult to put in some perspective.
“But we had control of the performance and we had control of, not the start of the game, but the fans at the end of the game. And I have to say I thought the fans were brilliant. They made their feelings really clear, and then once that was done, the team started playing with a bit of flow. I think they were really, really good. So I have to thank them for that.”
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Scottish roundup: Charles-Cook’s earns Motherwell win over troubled Dons
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Regan Charles-Cook scored a memorable first goal for Motherwell to take their early promise under Jens Berthel Askou up a notch and book a trip to Hampden following a 1-0 win at Aberdeen.
Charles-Cook’s swerving long-range strike in the second half at Pittodrie proved enough to earn a Premier Sports Cup semi-final place and continue Aberdeen’s miserable start to the season.
The Scottish Cup holders were looking for a break from their league form, which leaves them bottom of the Scottish Premiership without a goal.
But, despite making a decent start and hitting the bar twice, they suffered a fifth defeat of the season to leave manager Jimmy Thelin under pressure.
In Friday’s quarter-final, St Mirren’s penalty shootout triumph at Kilmarnock sparked a pitch invasion from the travelling fans at Rugby Park. Saints sealed a 5-3 win on penalties after an entertaining 2-2 draw and dozens of the Buddies fans spilled out of a packed away stand. Shamal George saved from the former Saints midfielder Kyle Magennis before Malik Dijksteel netted the clinching penalty to seal St Mirren’s first trip to Hampden since 2021.
Stephen Robinson, whose team led twice through impressive goals from Mikael Mandron and Jayden Richardson, said: “We had a couple of really good chances to win the game before penalties but, if someone told you you’d win after penalties, you’d take it. It’s just not the easiest thing on your heart sometimes. But it’s a brilliant way to win and fantastic that the boys got to celebrate with the fans at the end.”
In the Premiership on Saturday, Dundee’s Simon Murray, Joe Westley and Callum Jones scored in their 3-2 win over Livingston at Dens Park.
Livi came storming back from 2-0 down thanks to a Clark Robertson own goal and a Jeremy Bokila penalty. But, deep in stoppage time, referee Ross Hardie awarded another spot-kick to Dundee when he adjudged Danny Wilson had brought down home substitute Charlie Reilly. The official was then called over to the pitchside monitor by VAR, but he stuck with his original decision as Jones slotted home the spot-kick to secure a dramatic win for Dundee. PA Media
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Many Rangers fans had voted with their feet and stayed away but none who follow the Light Blues can ignore the fact that Rangers are second bottom of the Scottish Premiership table, nine points behind Celtic and Hearts, although that concern is for another day.
Rangers fans were pleased Raskin, a favourite of the supporters, was back in the side after being left out of the squad completely by Martin for the previous two games against Hearts and Celtic because of an unknown issue between the two men.
“I just got asked the question about any regrets and all that stuff,” said the former Southampton manager, who revealed a chat with Cavenagh after the game was positive. “I think probably myself and Nico will feel similar, it’s disappointing it went on. But also, maybe it’s necessary for this whole culture, this football club, for the players to understand, for Nico to really grow.
“But contrary to popular belief, we have a good working relationship. He wants to play, he wants to win. He did some brilliant stuff today, but like everyone else, there’ll be stuff he can improve on as well to help him and help us as the group.”
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There were more than 2,000 noisy Hibs fans inside Ibrox, which had thousands of empty blue seats – the official attendance was 34,682.
The Union Bears, the Ultras-style supporters group, had led the pre-match protests outside and inside the stadium, holding aloft posters showing a red diagonal line through photographs of Martin and Stewart, which were present in all four stands. There were also “Martin out” and “Stewart out” banners unfurled in the Broomloan Stand and in the 11th minute play was stopped after hundreds of coloured balls were thrown from the Copland Stand into Jack Butland’s penalty area.
