Rangers Struggles Continue Under Russell Martin

Rangers Struggles Continue Under Russell Martin

Rangers Struggles Continue Under Russell Martin

With five league games played and no victories, Rangers find themselves languishing in 10th place in the 12-team Scottish Premiership. Neil McCann's assessment that "a lot of things are going wrong at the minute" is indeed accurate.

The Ibrox side's latest disappointing performance resulted in a home defeat to Hearts, marking their first loss at home to this opponent since 2014. Russell Martin has become the first Rangers head coach in 47 years to fail to secure a win in his first five league matches.

Former winger and assistant manager, McCann, described Rangers as "ragged" after they conceded two goals while failing to score yet again. Team captain James Tavernier expressed that his teammates felt "ashamed" and found it "embarrassing" to lose in such a manner.

Martin acknowledged the "lot of anxiety" present among his players, a sentiment echoed by the chorus of boos from the stands during and after Saturday's match.

Why do 'messy' Rangers keep getting caught out?

Since taking over, Martin has been bold in his approach, advocating for a high-risk style of play. However, with only two wins in European qualifiers and a narrow victory over Alloa Athletic in the Premier Sports Cup, tangible results have been scarce.

He encourages his players to take the initiative and play quick, sharp passes to advance up the pitch, but this strategy falters when players are hesitant to receive the ball.

An incident highlighted on Sportscene illustrated this issue, as Scotland defender John Souttar received the ball from goalkeeper Jack Butland with virtually "zero options" ahead of him, according to McCann. Although on-loan Brentford left-back Jayden Meghoma was available, five Hearts attackers were poised to exploit any mistakes, forcing on-loan Tottenham Hotspur winger Mikey Moore to retreat and assist defensively.

This particular moment did not lead directly to a goal, but it mirrored a similar situation that resulted in Hearts' opener, following a careless pass from Tavernier in the attacking third.

Rangers' high defensive line and inverted full-backs have created significant space for opposing wingers like Claudio Braga to exploit during counter-attacks stemming from individual errors.

Martin warned that his style might incur short-term pain before yielding long-term gains, particularly with a squad still adjusting. However, six starters on Saturday were his own signings, alongside four substitutes.

“There is a lot of anxiety, a lot of difficulty managing expectation,” Martin told BBC Scotland. “We have many players trying to acclimatize to their Rangers careers amid a challenging environment. There’s so much change, and they are entering a unique situation that they have not experienced before. We have to support them through this transition.”

Raskin required to sharpen attack?

Amid the troubling statistics surrounding Rangers, the fact that they have scored only three league goals has largely gone unnoticed. Steven Pressley’s Dundee shares this tally, while Aberdeen remains at the bottom with no goals in four games.

None of Rangers' three goals have come from open play, with Tavernier's late equalizer against Dundee being a penalty, and the other two—one from Tavernier and another from Findlay Curtis—coming from corners.

Following the summer departures of prolific scorers Cyriel Dessers and Hamza Igamane, Rangers brought in proven Premiership scorer Bojan Miovski and teenage forward Youssef Chermiti, who has not scored in 28 months.

Thelo Aasgaard, who recently scored four for Norway on international duty, denied Rangers an equalizer against Derek Cornelius, as the midfielder was deemed to have fouled goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow during a match where Martin believed they should have scored.

This marked two consecutive games without a goal for Rangers, with no shots on target against Celtic in their previous match. This lack of offensive output has provided fans with ample reasons to voice their dissatisfaction, as noted by McCann.

There is a prevailing belief that Rangers would be more effective in front of goal if the ongoing situation regarding Nicolas Raskin could be resolved. The midfielder was again absent from the squad despite returning from international duty with a goal. While Martin assures that the situation has been addressed, one of last season's standout players remains sidelined.

Raskin's ability to create opportunities from nothing, along with his raw talent and tenacity, is sorely missed within the Rangers lineup. Last season, he provided eight of his ten assists from open play.

“Significant changes are needed, and I’m not necessarily referring to the manager,” former Rangers forward Rory Loy stated on BBC Sportsound. “They need to clear the air with Nico Raskin and reintegrate him into the team. While they might not win this game with him, they would certainly be better off.”

“The two weeks Russell Martin has had on the training pitch during the international break seem to have made things worse. That loss is on the manager. There have been excuses before, but I don’t think there are any for the defeat against Hearts.”

Will Martin mix things up?

Without a crystal ball, it’s uncertain if Martin will alter his approach, but many speculate that he will not. Throughout his relatively brief managerial career, Martin has rarely deviated from his principles.

After his possession-based style led Southampton to the Premier League through the playoffs last season, he deemed it "illogical" to abandon his methodology. However, following 13 defeats in 16 top-flight matches, he was dismissed as the approach ultimately failed with a squad lacking Premier League experience.

At the time of his departure on December 15, 2024, three alarming statistics stood out:

Only four teams had a worse goal difference after 16 Premier League matches than Southampton’s -25.

Southampton had more errors leading to goals than any other team (10) and made more mistakes leading to shots than any other side (26).

The Saints faced 108 shots on target—the most in the Premier League.

While Martin appears to have the support of the Rangers board, McCann noted that the manager looked "uncomfortable" at the final whistle on Saturday, suggesting there was a sense of resignation as fans expressed their frustration.

“I know he’s not one to walk away, but when fans exhibit such disdain and displeasure, it becomes incredibly challenging to navigate through it,” McCann said. “He would need to embark on an extraordinary run to regain the support of the fanbase.”

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