The classy Russell Martin act during Norwich banishment that shows Rangers would be getting leader of integrity
Michael McGovern knows Martin inside out from their time at Norwich City and showed just how high his standards are
The Norwich City first-team players sat together having dinner at the pre-season German training camp.
At a separate table, was their club captain Russell Martin.
Banished to the reserves after nine years of service at Carrow Road – his team-mates wondered how the Scotland defender would react.
Given how he’d been treated by the Carrow Road hierarchy at that point, Martin would have been forgiven for throwing his toys from the pram.
Inside, he must have felt disrespected and harshly treated. But McGovern, who was the Canaries’ goalkeeper, says Martin’s conduct on that summer trip didn’t just tell you about him as a professional.
He says it told him everything about Martin’s character as a man. And it’s something the former Northern Ireland number one has never forgotten.
McGovern believes the episode towards the end of Martin’s career at Norwich is a clear indicator of his own standards.
And he’s convinced that bodes well for Rangers and their players should Martin become Ibrox gaffer in the next few days.
The 39-year-old head coach is on the verge of being named as Philippe Clement ’s successor.
And McGovern, who spent two years with Martin in Norfolk, is adamant it would be a good appointment from Gers’ new American owners and sporting director Kevin Thelwell.
The former Falkirk and Hamilton number one was hugely impressed by Martin as a player – and has watched his managerial career closely.
But it was his behaviour in Germany seven years ago that made a lasting impression.
He told Record Sport: “Russell is a real leader. And at Norwich, that was within the whole club – not just the dressing-room.
“He knew everybody and treated them all with respect. He was a proper captain.
“I was really impressed by him since the first day I met him. And seeing how he conducted himself, that didn’t change.
“Towards the end of his career at Norwich, he had been frozen out of first-team and was ordered to go and train with the Under-23’s.
“We were in Germany and he was with the U23’s group, separate from the first-team – even though he’d previously been club captain.
