To give him his dues, Russell Martin did warn that this would not all be plain sailing.
Just eight games into his tenure as Rangers manager, though, the hull has been breached, and the vessel is threatening to capsize.
Far from a popular appointment in the first place, the former defender had to win the battle for hearts and minds by delivering sharp, incisive football. To date, it’s been in short supply.
Notwithstanding the fact that he’s trying to integrate 10 new players, the sides he’s selected have, more often than not, looked soft, open and vulnerable.
When Nasser Djiga checked out of the game after just three minutes against Club Brugge, Romeo Vermant’s chip over Jack Butland was the start of a horror show.
By the 20-minute mark, the Belgians were three up, seats were quickly being emptied and the air was filled with fury.
Rangers manager Russell Martin remains convinced his side are on the right track
Club Brugge left Ibrox with a 3-1 lead after Tuesday’s Champions League play-off first leg
Many fans had seen enough after just 20 minutes with their team already three goals down
While Danilo’s goal gave Rangers a sliver of a chance of yet progressing to the league phase, the abject nature of the first-half display was not something easily forgotten or forgiven.
The Ibrox crowd can be a tough audience at the best of times. Martin certainly doesn’t lack self-awareness when recognising that hiring him initially didn’t exactly go down a storm.
Little that’s happened since has won over the floating voters. And, in his estimation, nothing he goes on to achieve will resonate with those who didn’t want him there in the first place.
‘The noise is something I just can’t control,’ he said.
‘The only way you can control it is by winning football matches and there will still be some people who aren’t happy that I’ve got long hair, a centre parting and that I can’t wear a shirt and tie because I’m too sweaty on the sidelines.
‘So, you’re never going to please anyone regardless. Even if we win loads of trophies here, which is the plan, I’m pretty sure there will still be sceptics.
‘So, that’s not my focus. Every day, I just want to be as good as I can for the players and bring as much energy as I possibly can.’
Any manager can live with the naysayers if they are a small minority. The difficulty for Martin is that they’re now threatening to outnumber those who are sold on what he’s trying to do.
It was another tough night for summer signing Max Aarons as the Belgians ran riot
From the games to date, only the home match against Viktoria Plzen could be deemed an unqualified success. His side have only performed for periods of their other assignments or not at all.
We’re hearing a lot about people learning fast, trying hard and the positivity of team meetings, but truthfully there’s scant evidence of tangible progress.
The manager’s account of the mood around the training ground since Tuesday could have related to any week since he took over.
‘The energy’s been good,’ he insisted. ‘I think that we’ll grow and learn from that a lot as a group and I felt that energy this week.
‘We paid the price for a crazy 20-25 minutes where the reaction to a big disappointment just wasn’t good enough.
‘We spoke about that and we have to transform the energy of the whole place on that. That’s by bringing energy here every day as a group of players and staff and then transferring it onto the pitch.
‘I’ve really enjoyed this week and the second half gave me that feeling that the players really want to fight for each other.’
They’d better be. After facing a St Mirren side who Rangers beat just once last season, the Ibrox men are then Belgium-bound.
The home win over Viktoria Plzen demonstrated what Rangers can do when things click
Celtic visit next Sunday, followed by Hearts in the Premiership and Hibs in the Premier Sports Cup. This isn’t going to get any easier.
‘They’re all important,’ Martin said. ‘I think the first game we discussed was Panathinaikos and someone said it was a season-defining game. We got through that tie, we got through the next one.
‘We’ve had a frustrating start in the league and the only time I’ve been really, really disappointed was Motherwell because I thought that was mentality. It wasn’t about performance.
‘Dundee, we didn’t perform well enough in the first half and then when we were finally gathering up some steam, we get a man sent off.
‘Then the other night, it was a 25-minute spell that was really difficult.
‘We need to keep moving forward. Sunday’s game is important, but they all are. We have three games coming up that are going to be really important, but none of them are season-defining. We have a chance to make things look very different in the next week.’
Martin contends that the rage directed towards him in midweek came as no surprise. Turning those boos into cheers isn’t actually his main motivation.
‘I was well aware when I took the job that I wasn’t the most popular player because I don’t have a fancy name,’ he continued.
Martin will take on St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson for the first time on Sunday afternoon
‘I’d had a spell here as a player that wasn’t fantastic. So, I came in with my eyes wide open and knew what to expect.
‘I understand how big it is, how important it is to everyone here and how much things get heightened very quickly.
‘I said to you that my career was built on proving people wrong. I’m not driven by that. I’m driven about being the best we can be every single day.
‘I’m driven by helping players as much as I possibly can and giving them some real clarity and building something for them and for us to perform and win.
‘Everyone I’ve bumped into in the city, they’ve been great. Maybe I’m walking around in the right areas, but they’ve been great.’
The same cannot be said yet, though, for the side he’s hastily constructed.
In the wider scheme of things, Martin’s popularity as a person isn’t important. It will be the fruits of his labours which determine how this all pans out.
‘I think football is so short-term now and the world is with social media and all that stuff,’ he opined.
‘Back in the day, you’d go out in the pub and chat with your mates about how bad someone was and it’s gone for a week. But now it’s just incessant, constant. So, it’s the way of the world, it is what it is.
‘I think if you’re a football manager, you have to accept that. So, it’s not a problem. Our job is to make sure people feel very differently about it in a month’s time, two months’ time and moving forward.’
