Is Martin worst Rangers boss ever? What do the numbers say?

Russell Martin does not leave Rangers with an infamous meme-worthy moment like some of his predecessors, such as arguing with fans in a bush or performing a headstand in a dugout.

But he will be remembered by many as a worse Ibrox boss than all of them - and arguably the club's worst of all time.

Why? One, his 123-day reign is the shortest of any permanent Rangers manager. And, two, his win percentage of just 29% is by far the lowest in the club's history.

Here, BBC Scotland crunches the numbers behind Martin's calamitous four-month tenure and looks at who the hierarchy could turn to next to pick up the pieces.

With champagne dripping from his hair and a 2020-21 Scottish Premiership winner's medal around his neck, then manager Steven Gerrard urged Rangers to "fix the roof while the sun is shining".

Spoiler - the roof still ain't fixed and the sun ain't shining no more.

Rangers went through four managers - Gerrard, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale and Philippe Clement - in the following four years before getting to Martin.

The Govan side were a penalty shootout away from winning the Europa League under Van Bronckhorst then won a Scottish Cup days later. He went with Rangers nine points behind Celtic the following season.

Beale and Clement both made positive starts before their reigns unravelled. Beale's side were seven points adrift of Celtic when he was sacked. It was 13 for Clement.

Martin leaves Glasgow with Rangers nine off Celtic and 11 behind leaders Hearts after just seven league games.

Prior to 2012, Rangers had 13 managers in more than a century. In the past decade, they have burned through seven.

If the roof was in need of repair after the 2021 title win, it has now caved in.

They support the view the 39-year-old is Rangers' worst ever manager.

Albeit over a 123-day period, the shortest tenure of any first-team boss at Ibrox, Martin's 29% win percentage is the lowest in the club's history.

Paul le Guen managed 52% and Pedro Caixinha's was 54%. Even Barry Ferguson's interim spell had a win rate of 40%. Graeme Murty's was 60% across his two caretaker stints. Clement (64%) and Beale (72%) are well clear.

As for Martin, it felt each game came with a new low.

A 1-1 draw with Dundee in his second Premiership game marked the first time since 1989 that Rangers had failed to win their opening two league fixtures.

Losing to Hearts in September meant the Ibrox side had not won any of their first five league matches for the first time since 1978.

A 6-0 humiliation in Brugge, inflicting a 9-1 aggregate embarrassment, was a record-equalling European defeat.

And the 2-1 Europa League loss to Sturm Graz on Thursday ensured Rangers went a 23rd consecutive away game without a clean sheet. That is a new club record.

Even in victory there were serious red flags. Martin's side faced an eye-watering 73 shots across four matches while progressing past Panathinaikos and Viktoria Plzen in Champions League qualifying.

The underlying numbers told us it was not sustainable. And so it proved.

In the Premiership, only two teams have scored fewer goals than Rangers this term. No team has had fewer clean sheets. They have only faced two shots fewer than St Mirren. They are on a negative goal difference.

Their expected goals (xG) rating of nine ranks them eighth, where they happen to be placed in the standings that really count.

Even with that evidence, Martin often said his team's deficiencies were down to mentality issues and not tactics.

In the backdrop, Rangers' board sanctioned a net spend of around £20m in the summer window. There have been suggestions that could mean the club spent close to £40m on incomings.

For context, that is an astronomical figure for a Scottish club.

Rangers could take a leaf out of the book of their city rivals and turn to a previous manager to try to stabilise and bring back success.

That would be Gerrard, who has been out of work since ending an 18-month stint in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ettifaq.

The former Liverpool and England captain's Ibrox reign was far from perfect, but he is the only man to have led Rangers to a top-flight title in the past 14 years.

The ex-Aston Villa boss was reportedly in the running for the Ibrox job in the summer, along with Davide Ancelotti, son of the great Carlo.

It seems the Ancelotti ship has sailed, though, with the former Real Madrid coach now at Botafogo, where he has won 10 of 22 games in his first job in management.

Sean Dyche's name has also been mentioned by fans and bookmakers, which perhaps carries weight given his connection with Rangers sporting director Kevin Thelwell, whom he worked with at Everton.

There is some snobbery around the football the former Burnley boss looks to implement, but he would surely make Rangers a harder team to beat.

Then there is Derek McInnes, whose history at Ibrox is well documented. The former Rangers midfielder was targeted for the managerial position while Aberdeen boss but turned the role down.

Now leading the Premiership table with Hearts, would Rangers' new ownership group be interested in the experienced 54-year-old?

However, with the potential to build something special - and stable - in an ambitious new era at Tynecastle, there is no guarantee McInnes would even entertain any potential approach from Ibrox.