RANGERS CONFIDENTIAL: Ibrox board may have close links to Leeds but that doesn't mean their rival managers will be having any cosy chats!

With the 49ers Enterprises on board at both clubs, there will naturally be a very close link between Rangers and Leeds United for the foreseeable future. Just don’t expect those warm relations to extend to the men in the respective dugouts.

Leeds boss Daniel Farke, of course, was the man who unceremoniously brought down the curtain on Russell Martin’s playing career at Norwich City — and it’s unlikely the new Rangers manager will be in the mood for forgiveness no matter the joint interests of his paymasters.

Martin made 309 appearances for the Carrow Road club and remains a club legend after twice guiding the Canaries to the dizzy heights of the Premier League. For their first promotion, in 2010-11, he played every minute of every match and was dubbed the ‘Norfolk Cafu’ for his bucaneering performances from the back.

For their second promotion, via the play-offs four years later, the Scotland centre-half was club captain and the beating heart of a side managed by Alex Neil. On being handed the armband two years before that, Martin had proclaimed his undying love for the club and stated: ‘I would eventually love to manage Norwich.’

He remained a stalwart even as the club narrowly slid out of the top flight under Neil, but things turned sour when Farke arrived on the scene in the summer of 2017. 

As current Rangers assistant Matt Gill put it in comments dating back to 2021: ‘Russell and Daniel didn’t quite see eye to eye.’

Martin started the first five games under Farke until a back injury ruled him out for a six-week spell. And that was it, he was never picked again by the German. 

The captain was on the outside looking in and was sent on loan to Rangers in January 2018 — a spell that ultimately left him just as miserable as Rangers toiled under Graeme Murty.

Ahead of facing Farke’s Leeds with his Southampton side last year, comments resurfaced from Martin reflecting on the end of his time at Norwich. Speaking to Talk Norwich City some time after his departure from the club, Martin had said: ‘The plan was in place with the club to start looking towards the end of my playing career and finish at Norwich with the hope of starting to work there as well, in whatever role.

‘That was the plan, but things don’t always go to plan. Daniel had other plans and it became fairly obvious fairly quickly [I wasn’t going to feature].

‘Unfortunately, I left. I went on loan to Rangers, enjoyed the first couple of months, after that, didn’t really at all, couldn’t wait to get home.

‘Summer came and it was obvious I wasn’t going to be part of the plans again. After you’ve been a big part of something, it’s difficult to then become, not even a bit-part, I was totally out of it. I was training with the 23s and it just became difficult.’

Even as recently as this year, it was clear Martin still bears a grudge. Speaking on Gary Lineker’s And The Rest Is Football podcast, the current Rangers manager was bemoaning the fact that Farke — whose side Martin’s Southampton beat in the 2024 Play-off final to reach the Premier League — kept his job despite failing to win promotion, while he lost his after struggling in the top tier.

‘Daniel is still in a job now,’ said Martin, then out of work. ‘We beat them in the final but actually he stayed in the job and is still in the job, and will probably get promoted this year.’

Let it go, Russell. There are far more important matters in hand at Ibrox.

New Rangers assistant owes a debt of gratitude to Celtic legend 

New Rangers assistant manager Matt Gill has a former Celtic favourite to thank for handing him his first major dugout role — after convincing him to cross one of British football’s most bitter divides.

The Englishman was enjoying a spell as Under-23 manager at Norwich City when Paul Lambert swooped to take him to Ipswich Town as part of his new coaching set-up at Portman Road.

Lambert had managed Gill during his spell with Norwich between 2009-11 and kept in touch with his former charge’s development after their paths diverged.

After Gill’s nomadic career had wound down with a spell as player and assistant manager at Tranmere, a return to Norwich to work in their academy reunited him with Russell Martin, who he was able to call on in defence for the developmental side amid his deep-freeze under Daniel Farke.

Yet, just a month after club legend Martin left Carrow Road, Gill received a surprise call from Lambert after he was hired by the Suffolk club. 

And while he admitted it was an offer he couldn’t refuse, he had to take emergency measures to limit the flow of abuse he knew he would receive from Canaries fans for leaving to join their hated rivals.

‘I was lucky enough to work with the Under-23s at Norwich and I saw myself doing that for longer than I did,’ said Gill.

‘An opportunity came up to work with Paul Lambert at Ipswich and I could not turn that down. It was totally out of the blue — when he said it was Ipswich, it was an even bigger surprise!

‘The decision to cross the divide is one that I didn’t take lightly. I obviously got loads of stick for it. I came off Twitter the night before it got announced as I thought that was probably for the best...’

Of course, Gill will soon discover that the East Anglia rivalry was a walk in the park compared to what awaits him in Glasgow when the Old Firm collide for the first time in the new season on August 31.

Former Rangers kid is already making a big impression

To the long list of Scots making an impression overseas can be added the name of Robbie Ure, former Rangers striker, now playing in Sweden for Sirius.

While he is a long way from emulating Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour and Lewis Ferguson, Ure is the latest to reap the rewards of playing abroad.

The 21-year-old’s goal against Osters on Saturday was his third in three games. It was his fifth in six appearances, his sixth in 13 since moving there in March.

Those startling figures are the first clear sign that the potential he showed as a youth player with Rangers may yet to be fulfilled.

Ure came through the ranks at Ibrox, played for Scotland under-19s and and scored on his Rangers debut in a League Cup tie against Queen of the South.

But that proved to be something of a false dawn as he made only two more appearances for Rangers’ first team and decided in 2023 to reject the offer of a new contract.

Instead, Ure moved to Anderlecht, played for their youth team in Belgium’s second tier and was sufficiently impressive to earn a three-year contract extension last summer.

The Scot continued to shine in Anderlecht’s ‘futures’ side, but when Sirius submitted a £620,000 bid for him earlier this year, he was tempted by the prospect of regular first-team football.

Ure agreed a move, committed himself until 2029 and immediately set about repaying some of the club-record transfer fee with a flurry of goals and assists.

Finally, his career is up and running and, who knows, if it continues to head in the right direction, it might lead to a Scotland call-up, as it has for several others playing abroad.

In a recent interview, Ure said: ‘You look at some of the names that have done it and are doing really, really well. Max Johnston obviously in Austria has got himself into the Scotland A squad now.

‘The evidence is there that there’s a lot of talent in Scotland and they can go abroad and really do well and become a better player. I would really recommend it.’

Is Ibrox really the best home for Rangers Women? 

Rangers have taken a bold step by announcing that, from now on, Ibrox will be the primary home of their women’s team.

That doesn’t mean they will play every home game there, but it does mean that ‘more matches than ever’ will be held at the Govan ground.

Until now, Rangers’ women have played mostly at Broadwood, with Ibrox occasionally hosting big games when the calendar allows.

Four matches were held at Ibrox last season, including the season-ending visit by Hibs when Rangers were pipped to the title.

Now, the Women’s and Girls’ Managing Director, Donald Gillies, has confirmed that they will play at Ibrox ‘subject to scheduling clashes’.

He said that the chance to appear more frequently at Ibrox would be a big thrill for players and supporters, as well as an important step for the club’s women’s programme.

‘This move will not only help attract top talent to the team, but also ensure we continue to retain and develop our players as we push for greater success,’ said Gillies. ‘To say that getting to this point is a key milestone for the club is an understatement.’

The move is problematic though. As Gillies admitted, the arrangement was finalised only after they had overcome a number of complex issues, including the men’s schedule, the condition of the pitch and the integrity of competition.

None of those challenges will go away. The men’s fixture list is prone to change, especially during a European campaign. And there is no guarantee that crowds will be big enough to justify opening and staffing Ibrox every week.

In England, five top-flight teams play most of their games at a men’s ground – Arsenal, West Ham, Brighton, Leicester and London City Lionesses – but it isn’t necessarily the way ahead for everyone.

While shared stadia have been good for the game’s profile, there are other ways to develop the sport, as Brighton acknowledged when they revealed their vision for the future.

They are planning to become the first club in England to build a ground that is specifically for women. If all goes well, they will have in place a 10,000-capacity venue for season 2027-28.

That will really show respect to the women’s game, more so than stopgap visits to an oversized stadium that lacks atmosphere.

Rangers’ new owners have shown a welcome commitment to the women’s programme. Their backing and their promise of more exposure chimes with their plans to modernise the club from top to bottom.

If, further down the line, that leads to success on the pitch, and a reliable fanbase, might the result be a self-sustaining women’s team who are better served by a stadium of their own?