Rangers Bound Russell Martin Travelling To Glasgow

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Russell Martin is travelling to Glasgow to complete the formalities of becoming the new Rangers manager, according to STV.

The former Southampton boss emerged as the clear favourite to take over at Ibrox in recent days, with Rangers determined to make an appointment.

They considered a host of options, including former Rangers boss Steven Gerrard and Carlo Ancelotti’s right hand man, Davide Ancelotti.

Martin though is set to win out and will be tasked with closing the gap on Celtic next season and also making progress in Europe.

It had been thought that Kevin Thomson could step up to become his assistant, but that has been ruled out.

Martin is now travelling to Glasgow to put the finishing touches to his switch to take charge of Rangers after he agreed personal terms.

He was sacked by Southampton last season amid Saints’ struggles in the Premier League and an unwillingness to change his approach.

There have been questions marks about whether the 39-year-old has the experience or is suited to a job of the size of the Rangers job.

One former Scottish top flight star has already gone on the record as saying that he does not believe Rangers currently have the players to operate the way Martin likes to operate.

Rangers have new owners now and a new director of football and fans will wait to see how much Martin will be backed in the summer transfer window.

There are expected to be significant changes in the playing squad at Ibrox before the new Scottish season kicks off.

It is unclear whether Rangers will keep Wolfsburg winger Vaclav Cerny, who is now attracting serious interest from Turkish giants Trabzonspor.

Left-back Ridvan Yilmaz has also been strongly linked with a move back to Turkey, where Besiktas want him.