Rangers

Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

Image source, SNS

Inside the Glasgow goldfish bowl it can look like Russell Martin is doomed. Every Rangers fan is screaming blue murder. They're calling for him to be sacked, in terms that offer no ambiguity.

There is a venom and a toxicity. How can he hope to survive this and this and this?

The reality is that even though there are no discernible improvements in Rangers under Martin - not even scraps - he will get more opportunity to rebuild the team.

Chairman Andrew Cavenagh and vice-chairman Paraag Marathe don't strike you as having itchy trigger fingers. Not yet at any rate.

They cannot be deaf to the howls of protest - if they attend the Old Firm game on Sunday they'll be told all about it - but there's little evidence to suggest they will be influenced by supporters who are ready to spontaneously combust.

So you have a board who will wait, a support who see no point in waiting, and a manager who is attempting to sound like he's got this under control when all evidence screams otherwise. A heady brew.

This is Martin's team and Martin's mess. Not only is it not working, it's getting worse. No amount of fast-talking can disguise that, no attempt at a three-card trick is going to fool a single fan at this point.

Nasser Djiga was among the culpable for the first Brugge goal - a Martin signing. Max Aarons got himself sent off inside eight minutes - another Martin signing.

Every one of his new recruits were dismantled. At the break, he took off three of them - 5-0 to Brugge at that stage - and replaced them with three players he inherited.

Read more: 'Martin's mess exposed - but when will it end?'

We asked for your views after Rangers suffered a 6-0 defeat at Club Brugge - equalling the club's heaviest European loss - to crash out of the Champions League 9-1 on aggregate.

Here are some of your comments:

Dobby: Totally embarrassed to be a Rangers supporter. After supporting this club for almost 40 years, I have never seen such a hapless team. Very poor recruitment followed by appalling strategy, total shambles of a team. With each season passes we are getting worse - the strategy of the club, the recruitment and the poor managerial choices.

Alan: Russell Martin seems to have lost the dressing room. A team is exactly that - individuals who will fight for the club and each other. Bringing in players is one thing but ensuring they gel is another. Martin is not up to the job I fear.

David: Enough is enough. Time is up for Martin. Others such as Patrick Stewart and Kevin Thelwell have to shoulder responsibility. The Brugge result and performance was inevitable. Thankfully Brugge took their foot off the gas for the majority of the second half. Spineless, gutless, leaderless. I no longer recognise my club and as a supporter for 55 years, I never thought I'd feel this way.

James: Martin's decision to leave all the experienced players on the bench shows he has not got a clue. He has to go!

Peter: Surely the new owners have to realise they got it wrong with appointing Russel Martin. His tactics and team selection will not change and there are too many young players in this team who will take this defeat sorely and might even wreck their progression. The man is ripping the heart out of Rangers and someone needs to throw in the towel. Just look at the stats for goodness sake.

Robert: Time Martin was sacked and some of his signings are questionable. None of them have European experience. They look and play like schoolboys. How long are the new owners going to accept these displays? They are an embarrassing.

Steve: Please get Barry Ferguson back as manager. We need a Rangers man back at the reins, someone who feels the pain we all feel.

Russell Martin admits he doesn't know whether midfielder Nicolas Raskin will still be a Rangers player come the end of the transfer window. (Daily Record), external

Rangers fans called for Martin to go after more dismal defending cost Rangers Champions League football. (Daily Record), external

Rangers striker Hamza Igamane is set to undergo a medical with Lille on Thursday before a proposed £10.4m move to Ligue 1. (Sky Sports), external

Read the rest of Thursday's Scottish gossip.

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Rangers captain James Tavernier admits the team "need to look at ourselves" after a 6-0 defeat against Club Brugge saw them crash out of the Champions League play-offs in humiliating fashion.

The defender failed to make Russell Martin's staring XI in Belgium but was quickly substituted on the pitch in the 12th minute following a successful diving header from the opposition and a red card for Max Aarons.

Fans have now seen the Ibrox side win just three times in 10 games this term, with the margin of defeat equaling Rangers' 6-0 loss to Real Madrid in 1963 and the 7-1 defeat to Liverpool in 2022.

"We need to look at ourselves, it's well below our standards," Tavernier told TNT Sports.

"It's obviously not good enough for what we want to do as a team and as a club. It's still early in the season. We have to stick together, it's as simple as that.

"You look at the goals we conceded, we can't concede goals like that. We have to showcase and prove to the manager and fans we belong on the pitch. We didn't do that tonight.

"We can understand how mad they would be about that performance."

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Rangers head coach Russell Martin told TNT Sports: "We start terribly. It's madness really. A tough night got even tougher. We apologise to the fans that travelled and the fans back home.

"We didn't respond well enough to an early setback. We have to show a big response on Sunday.

"There's not enough harmony or care for each other quite yet. We knew that coming in... We have to build that. That harmony has been disrupted for sure.

"It's nowhere near acceptable for this group.

"I apologise for the performance, the fans have been great. The only way we can respond is by putting in a top performance on Sunday."

Martin adds that he has no concerns about his immediate future, adding: "[The board] are amazingly, amazing supportive, they understand this might take time. We have to accept the pain and humiliation and use it as fuel."

Russell Martin's calamitous 10-man Rangers crashed out of the Champions League play-offs in humiliating fashion as a record-equalling six-goal European loss at relentless Club Brugge inflicted a 9-1 aggregate defeat.

Read the match report here.

Have your say on the match here.

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland in Bruges

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Finland winger Oliver Antman admits he has struggled to find form since signing for Rangers amid a tumultuous start to Russell Martin's tenure.

Antman impressed on his debut in the home win over Viktoria Plzen, but has since hit a dip in the following four games, none of which Rangers have won.

As he prepares for the second leg of the Champions League play-off at Club Brugge, where Rangers trail 3-1, the 24-year-old said: "The first couple of weeks haven't been the best for me.

"I think I can do a lot better. I'm just focusing on myself and the team. I'm focusing on my own performance.

"It didn't come as a surprise that the expectations are high. We need to win every single game. A draw is a loss at this club. It was not a surprise. I'm dealing with it as well as I can."

Asked to pinpoint a reason behind the sluggish start, Antman, who signed on a four-year deal from Dutch club Go Ahead Eagles earlier this month, said: "For me, and also for the whole team, it's still quite new. Everything, new players, new coaches, new system, new everything.

"It always takes time. But in this club, you don't really get much time. You have to get results straight away. That's understandable. That's acceptable.

"It's difficult to say. It's pretty much down to the simple things. We are not creating enough and we are letting in goals too easily, and then it's difficult to win games.

"We're only going to get better. We can, every now and then, see the good things in the games. We just need to show it for every single game for 90 minutes. That's the task."

Antman is adamant Rangers' task in Belgium tonight is not a lost cause.

"There's full belief in the team that we can still go through," he said.

"It's a tough task, but I think we have the quality. Especially in the first game, the second half was really good. If we play like that for 90 minutes, then it's possible."

Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers is attracting interest from at least three European sides, including long-standing suitors AEK Athens. (Scottish Sun)

Read the rest of Wednesday's gossip.

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Russell Martin is "excited" by Rangers' Champions League rescue mission in Bruges and insists the play-off tie is "very much alive" despite his side's two-goal deficit.

Martin's side were 3-0 down to Club Brugge after 20 minutes of last week's first leg before staging a recovery of sorts after the break, pulling a goal back through Danilo.

Speaking on the eve of Wednesday's return leg, head coach Martin said: "I think we have a real chance to come here and attack it and every team will have a plan, so it'll be interesting to see what their plan is, and I'm sure it'll be to try and build on the margin that they're winning by.

"But we've been on the other end of this position already twice going into games, not quite knowing how the opposition will approach it.

"So our energy and our mentality has to really alter their plan very quickly and make their energy change. So they're a good team, we know that.

"I think they felt we were a good team in the second half and I hope we put enough good moments together in that second half to make sure that they have a little bit of fear of what's to come. And we're ready for them.

"So we're going to attack it and see where it takes us. This game is very much alive and the tie is very much alive in our eyes."

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland in Bruges

Image source, SNS

Rangers head coach Russell Martin has been speaking to the media before the second leg of the Champions League play-off with Club Brugge on Wednesday night.

Here are the key points from the press conference:

• On Hamza Igamane - who allegedly refused to come on against St Mirren at the weekend - Martin says the saga "will come to a close very soon" and "he won't be our player any more".

• Martin insists the issue hasn't been disruptive for him or the squad as he hasn't seen him because Igamane had a "scan yesterday and got assessed." Asked what the scan revealed, Martin said: "I expect him to pass his medical".

• However, he says there is no personal issue with Igamane and he does not blame him for the situation: "It's not the players' fault, it really isn't. It's really difficult for a young man - that doesn't speak the language - that's being told, 'Don't worry, your future's going to be elsewhere.'"

• On the slow start of three wins in his opening 10 games: "One day when we've won a lot of games and won something here at the club, maybe we can sit down and be really honest about the first couple of months and what you have to deal with."

• The head coach admits that while there are unhappy supporters, every fan he has "bumped into has been great and really understands" the situation at the club.

• Martin believes the frenzy around Rangers and the gaps between the highs and lows "has dictated probably the decision-making of the football club" and that has not helped their current situation.

Image source, PA Media

Rangers are expected to launch a bid to sign Wales defender Chris Mepham, 27, from Bournemouth. (Sun), external

Lille have re-opened talks with Rangers over forward Hamza Igamane, 22. (Foot Mercato - in French), external

The French club are expected to return with an offer for Igamane after a loan bid was turned down. (Herald - subscription required), external

Midfielder Nedim Bajrami and forward Cyriel Dessers are also linked with moves away from Rangers while the futures of Oscar Cortes, Leon King, Rabbi Matondo and Clinton Nsiala are uncertain. (Record), external

Rangers want midfielder Bailey Rice, 18, to sign a new deal before sending him out on loan. (Herald - subscription required), external

Meanwhile, Rangers will loan players to Alloa Athletic in the next week. (Glasgow Times), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish gossip

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland in Bruges

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Club Brugge head coach Nicky Hayen says his counterpart Russell Martin "needs time to implement the style of play he wants" as the Rangers boss comes under increasing pressure following his slow start in the job.

The pair struck up a friendship when Hayen coached Haverfordwest County in Wales and Martin was at Swansea City.

Asked whether Martin may have to change his principles as he struggles to achieve positive results early in his Rangers tenure, Belgian Hayen said: "It depends - is it matching with the style of the club, what the club wants, the philosophy of the club?

"He just has to have a good collaboration between the board and himself. I know Russell was successful in his previous clubs on this way.

"Of course, it needs time to implement the style of play that he wants. This is up to the board if they give him the time or not. If not, then you have to change something."

Brugge take a 3-1 lead into Wednesday night's Champions League play-off second leg and Hayen is wary of a Rangers team that have "nothing to lose any more".

"Like in the second half [last week], they'll go all in, trying to score as quick as possible to come into the game," he said.

"This is something we have to be aware of. We're going to play our game like we did over there, try to score that goal.

"We have to be focused on the first whistle. We start the game like it's a draw again, like 0-0, it's the mindset that we need."

Image source, SNS

Hamza Igamane did not train with Rangers before they travelled to Belgium for the Champions League play-off second leg against Club Brugge, casting the striker's future at the club into further doubt.

It comes two days after the Moroccan forward told head coach Russell Martin he was injured when asked to get ready to come on as a substitute in the 1-1 Scottish Premiership draw with St Mirren.

Speaking post-match on Sunday, Martin appeared unconvinced by Igamane's excuse but said he had to "trust" the forward.

Reports suggest Ligue 1 side Lille have reopened talks with Rangers about signing the 22-year-old, with Martin confirming on Sunday a bid was turned down for him last week.

While Igamane sat out training on Tuesday, striker Cyriel Dessers took part in the open part of the session. The Nigeria international has missed the last three games, including the 3-1 first-leg defeat by Brugge, with a knee injury.

Jamie Currie
Fan writer

The poor performances just keep on coming. After losing to Brugge, the draw at St Mirren was utterly boring - like watching the Dundee and Motherwell games over again.

In the first half we were completely bullied and again we lost a goal from not being properly set up behind the ball when attacking. And that's before you talk about having no number nine in the side.

The whole sideshow with Hamza Igamane and Russell Martin is one thing and it will go the way it goes. I don't care too much for it to go in depth on it. There is never a day goes by at Rangers without a drama - it's so draining.

In the final week of the transfer window we need a left-back, a left centre-back, a proper number six and a couple of strikers.

We go into Wednesday and Sunday behind the eight ball. We need to show something different away to Brugge and try to put in a level of performance, but even this early Sunday's Old Firm derby is must win in terms of the league season – that's how bad things have been so far domestically.

Right now it seems like we are in a bit of a mess with no sign of light at the end of the tunnel.

The players don't look like they are buying what Martin is selling. His tactics are boring and the fans seem to be totally switched off.

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Don Robertson will referee Sunday's first meeting of Rangers and Celtic this season at Ibrox (12:00 BST).

The whistler will be assisted by Daniel McFarlane and Chris Rae while Andrew Dallas will be the VAR, assisted by Calum Scott.

Robertson officiated Celtic's opening match of the season, the champions 1-0 defeat of St Mirren, and oversaw Rangers' home draw with Dundee.

Rangers sit on three points after draws in their opening three league fixtures while Celtic have a maximum nine points.

Both sides play midweek Champions League play-off fixtures before the derby, with Celtic away to Kairat tonight (agg 0-0) and Rangers in Belgium to face Club Brugge on Wednesday (agg 3-1 to Brugge).