THE road back to England is littered with the shattered egos of people who came to Scottish football thinking it would be a skoosh.
And there’s little doubt Russell Martin will join the likes of Joey Barton, Todd Cantwell and plenty of others on that list when he departs Rangers.
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How the ex-Scotland star could underestimate so badly what he needs at Ibrox is remarkable, especially given he spent a short period of his playing days in Glasgow.
Over six years starring for the national team, the one-time centre-half would have shared a dressing room with plenty of Old Firm players.
How could he possibly not know what it takes to survive in Scottish football and in that intense environment of a suffocating, football-mad city?
The signing of Jayden Meghoma has been a striking example of either the arrogance or incompetence — perhaps both — involved in Gers’ recruitment process.
Listening to the 19-year-old on club TV after his loan move from Brentford was jaw-dropping stuff.
A teenager with just 22 first-team appearances behind him, he discussed joining Rangers like a kid leaving an academy set-up for a development loan in the lower leagues.
Meghoma trotted out the PR lines he’d no doubt been fed about the club’s size and history.
But it was impossible not to come away from viewing his 15 minutes of YouTube fame thinking this poor kid had no idea what he was walking into.
Watching his fish-out-of-water performance against Club Brugge last Wednesday just underlined how far away Meghoma is from being ready to play at that level.
Now, that’s not his fault and there’s every chance he’ll progress to be a fine player some day.
Time is on his side, but that’s not a commodity in bountiful supply in Govan.
Developing teenagers for Brentford is not Rangers’ role in football’s food chain, and it’s staggering that anyone at Ibrox could think this would pave the way to success.
Megahoma isn’t alone in simply looking out of his depth.
You could have picked out plenty others in Belgium.
Tomorrow when Celtic come calling, with 50,000 furious and frustrated Ibrox fans judging their every move, the pressure on Martin and his players will be on a scale none of them have experienced before.
The resolution of Rangers over the last few years has been highly suspect, but this group, amazingly, appear even weaker than before.
Ally McCoist’s assessment of them looking like wee boys in Bruges was spot on.
They are facing a Celtic side bearing their own Champions League scars, with Brendan Rodgers’ team in desperate need of a win to change the narrative from their exit to Kairat Almaty.
Not that beating Gers tomorrow — if they do that — should detract from what’s been a shambolic summer at the Hoops.
Clearly, tomorrow is far more important in the short-term for Martin than it is for Rodgers, whose departure from Glasgow has looked to be on a longer flight path.
But against a wounded, broken Rangers they can’t afford a slip-up, or all hell will break loose against the Parkhead board for the lack of signings.
Old Firm games rarely produce the scintillating football the hype suggests they will.
And it’s the ramifications off the field in the coming days where the real drama lies.
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