Rangers

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• St Mirren are unbeaten in three league games against Rangers (W2 D1), their longest such run since going five without defeat from August 1983 to August 1984.

• Rangers have conceded more goals in their past two league visits to St Mirren (four) than they had in their previous 10 beforehand (three).

• St Mirren are one of two sides, along with Aberdeen, yet to score in this season's Scottish Premiership, while only Dundee (nine) have mustered fewer shots than the Buddies (13) in the division so far.

• Rangers have drawn both of their league games this season; on only seven occasions have they failed to win any of their opening three matches of a league campaign, most recently in 1989-90 under Graeme Souness.

• Having drawn both of his Premiership games in charge so far, Russell Martin could become only the second Rangers manager to fail to win any of his first three league matches in charge of the club, after John Greig, who won none of his first six in 1978.

Rangers are working to get as many as nine players off their books during the remaining period of the summer transfer window. (Daily Record)

Manager Jimmy Thelin has refused to rule out a move to bring Scotland forward Kevin Nisbet back to Aberdeen. (Daily Record)

Girona look set to sign Rangers target Alex Moreno, the 32-year-old left-back, from Aston Villa. (Santi Aouna)

And centre-back Nobel Mendy has signed for Rayo Vallecano after his move to Rangers collapsed. (The Herald)

Steven Gerrard held talks with 49ers Enterprises, who also own Rangers, over the Leeds United job as well as the Liverpool legend being in the mix for the Ibrox job. (Daily Record)

Jose Cifuentes is close to sealing an exit from Rangers, with Toronto FC finalising a deal to sign the midfielder. (Tom Bogert)

Read the rest of Thursday's gossip.

Alasdair Lamont
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

Rangers' defensive frailties came home to roost on Tuesday night as they were beaten by a scoreline that will have been a surprise to absolutely no-one who has watched them this season.

A lack of control, of care in possession, of assertiveness and responsibility have been evident from the opening game of the season against Panathinaikos.

Those failings have already cost them vital league points against Motherwell and Dundee and now look to have scuppered their hopes of reaching the Champions League.

Russell Martin wants to be judged in May but he's got to get there first and with fans already vocally expressing their displeasure over what they're watching, as many of his predecessors can testify, it is difficult to retain the backing of the board when the support has turned against you.

Goodness knows what the new owners have made of the rancour that is already emanating from the stands, but presumably they will not want to rush to judgement as the new project takes shape.

It's not so long ago, after all, that Ange Postecoglou experienced a similar start to life across the city. Dumped out of the Champions League qualifiers, losing his first league game, then the first Old Firm derby, but gradually ingratiating himself with an initially sceptical fanbase to become a hero, with a scintillating brand of football.

It is difficult to identify the brand of football Martin wants to play right now, with the players perhaps still getting to grips with what he's asking them to do.

With a difficult-looking trip to Paisley at the weekend before the second leg in Brugge and an Old Firm derby on the horizon, they need to do that quickly, or the heat is only going to intensify.

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Rangers defender John Souttar says there is still "belief" among the squad that they can still reach the Champions League despite their 3-1 hammering at home to Club Brugge.

The Belgian side were ahead inside the opening 20 minutes after lapses in defensive concentration allowed sloppy goals to be conceded at a furious Ibrox.

Russell Martin's ragged side rallied and Brazilian striker Danilo pulled a goal back four minutes after the break, but Rangers face a monumental task in the second leg in Belgium next Wednesday.

"I thought we brought the pressure on ourselves, conceding those two goals in the manner that we did, the third one as well," Souttar said.

"That brings pressure on yourself and it makes everything harder.

"We have to go over there and we have to be on the front foot, we can't afford to give away goals like we did and we have to implement our game plan on them instead of giving them the start we did on Tuesday.

"There is the belief. We have had big results in Europe away from home in the last few years so there is that belief but there is no point in saying it, we have to show it next week."

The Scotland defender admits their gameplan was rendered useless after their calamitous start, allowing Brugge to feel comfortable, but insists the side will "give everything" to turn the tie around next week.

He added: "I thought the game plan was good, but when we concede goals like we did, we are going to make anything difficult, and we did that in the first half.

"When we have had good European nights, Ibrox is a place where opposition teams don't feel comfortable and I think we gave them that comfort.

"So if you give teams that comfort, it is a lot easier for them to play out from the back and take that pass, that risk, be more relaxed, and we give them that luxury.

"And it's important when you have European games here that we get the crowd on our side, we make them uncomfortable, that is one of our biggest assets.

"We've got the goal back but we've got to go over there next week and give everything and see what happens."

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Former Rangers striker Billy Dodds: "Max Aarons has to show improvement. There's a few that have to be better if they're going to be successful at a club like Rangers.

"The recruitment of the 10 new players is meant to make things better and I think they will improve, but it remains to be seen if they're any better than the players who were here before."

BBC Scotland's chief sport writer Tom English: "I think Martin used the word brilliantly at least three times, they were 3-0 down after 20 minutes so there's nothing really brilliant about it.

"He did say the precursor to progress is pain, I think that's true but there's only so much pain you can suffer at clubs like this before serious questions are asked of you and your philosophy.

"He can't keep going like these. These kinds of press conferences are really going to anger people if he's going to continue to do them. He needs to back his words up with results."

"This wasn't brilliant, this was 3-0 after 20 minutes and a pretty bleak night."

Former Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor: "Why does it take going behind to get the enthusiasm and start going forward. Why can't Rangers do that from the start?

"It seems at the start everybody is a bit fearful of making a mistake. Rangers need to start on the front foot and make this place a fortress."

Former Rangers striker Steven Thompson: "Rangers have shown they can hurt teams, but unless they sort the defending, this will keep happening. I don't think they have it in them to go there and get a clean sheet and that's what they need."

Former Rangers midfielder Scott Arfield: "Rangers were off it and they were punished. Brugge came here to try and dampen the crowd, and next week when we go there we need to do the same."

Rangers face competition from one of Russell Martin's old clubs Swansea City for Villarreal's Cameroon Under-23 striker Etta Eyong. (Scottish Sun)

Rangers are set to miss out on Manchester City's Callum Doyle, with the England youth defender closing in on a £8m switch to Wrexham. (The Athletic)

Barry Ferguson would have targeted Dundee's Josh Mulligan and Lawrence Shankland of Heart of Midlothian if he had been retained as Rangers manager. (Scottish Sun)

Club Brugge manager Nicky Hayen says he "knew where the spaces were" in the Rangers team before they played at Ibrox in the Champions League qualifier. (The Herald)

Real Betis defender Nobel Mendy's transfer to Rangers collapsed because of a problem during the player's medical rather than a financial issue. (AS via Scottish Sun)

Read the rest of Wednesday's gossip.

A disastrous opening 20 minutes left Rangers' hopes of Champions League qualification hanging by a thread, as a clinical Club Brugge side tormented the hosts inside a seething Ibrox.

Rangers fans, what did you make of your side's performance? Can you still qualify for the Champions League? Does Russell Martin have to change his tactics?

Give us your thoughts here.

Read the match report here.

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Rangers head coach Russell Martin: "We gave them a goal with the first kick of the game in our half.

"We concede a crazy goal and don't respond to it anywhere near as well enough as we should and then we concede a goal we shouldn't - we don't do our jobs from our set play, which is really frustrating.

"Then it becomes so difficult and we make decisions based on desperation, anxiety, jump around when we shouldn't.

"So the gameplan went out the window, and we needed a moment to calm down, refocus and reassess.

"The lads showed amazing resilience in the second half and the tie is still open and the players really feel that.

"Some of the guys have had a tough start here, and the way they played tonight they'll grow so much. Now we're going to be the ones chasing and hunting."

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Rangers goalscorer Danilo told Amazon Prime: "It's not the way that we wanted to [play], especially at the start of the game, but there is still all to play, it is still in our hands.

"We don't want to concede that kind of goal so early in the game, but it depends on us to change and do better. That's what we did do.

"It's not what you want to hear, you want the fans behind you and supporting you, but we have to get through it. The fans deserve better.

"I think the goal doesn't matter that much because we lost the game, but it gives us a bit of belief. We are Rangers, we always keep the fight, it doesn't matter what the score is.

"Hopefully, we can get the result."

Jamie Currie
Fan writer

I am not going to bother commenting on either game this week, or Alloa in the cup the other day, because the whole thing is immaterial at the minute.

What I really want to explore this week is Russell Martin and how he is trying to get this Rangers side to look.

I will start off by saying I like the tactical side of the game. It's something I'd like to continue to learn about and something that interests me. However, I am a layman and don't claim to be some sort of guru where tactics are concerned.

But I don't think the style Martin is trying to implement is ever going to work at Rangers, or in Scotland for that matter, until we see significant changes.

Firstly, he talks about the team running harder and being aggressive in and out of possession. We are yet to see any of this on the pitch.

Secondly, we do not look compact or solid when we don't have the ball. When we lose possession, there seems to be no plan, no counter-press, and no high press from the front either.

When we do turn the ball over, especially in the final third, our team has more holes than a bit of Swiss cheese. How is that a recipe for winning anything? It's kamikaze at worst, and naive at best.

When we do have the ball, chance creation for the central striker is basically nil. We move the ball at a slow pace and just recycle the ball constantly. There are risky passes on to break the lines at times, but they just are not being attempted.

Another issue I have with the system is the two centre-backs are being asked to make the play. I am not sure if this is by design or it just seems to happen.

I know it's early, I know we have 10 new players, I know it's going to take some time. But where is this fast, aggressive, attacking football we were told we would see?

It's tepid, one-paced, clumsy, disjointed and boring. I know I am not enjoying watching it so far.

You cannot sack the guy in August, but I would like to know what the board saw in Martin and his football to think it would be a success.

The only thing it's succeeding in doing right now is confusing and boring a lot of fans.

He said there would be teething problems early on. He wasn't kidding, was he?

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With two weeks to go until the transfer window closes, Club Brugge have already brought in £70m this summer.

That has allowed Rangers' Champions League play-off opponents to splash about half of that figure on incomings, arriving from European heavyweights such as Inter Milan and Ajax.

Out of the £70m banked this window, £30m came from Ardon Jashari's sale to AC Milan, which is a new record sale for Belgian football.

"They have only been able to do that because they've been consistent Champions League performers," Belgian football journalist Scott Coyne tells the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

The Belgian club have qualified for Uefa's premier club competition in seven of the past nine seasons, reaching the last 16 just last term.

"This is a side that consistently perform at the top level in European football and know what it means to do that," Coyne adds.

"They understand the standards required to go out there and perform at this level."

Thomas Duncan
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

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Rangers have already welcomed Club Brugge to Ibrox this summer - in a pre-season friendly back in July.

Russell Martin said neither side can take much from that 2-2 draw and he is right. Both teams will look markedly different at the same venue on Tuesday night.

A lot has been made of the step up in class the Belgian side will be from Panathinaikos and Viktoria Plzen, and that is undoubtedly true.

Nicky Hayen's side may have failed to defend their Belgian Pro League title, losing out by three points to Union Saint-Gilloise, but they reached the last 16 of last season's Champions League before losing 6-1 on aggregate to Aston Villa.

It is a feat they have managed twice in the past three seasons, having been in the group or league phase for seven of the past nine campaigns overall.

Their pedigree at this level is clear.

This summer, though, Brugge sold midfielder Ardon Jashari to AC Milan for around £25m, while left-back Maxim De Cuyper and winger Chemsdine Talbi joined Premier League sides Brighton and Sunderland in multi-million pound deals.

Arguably their star man, Greece international winger Christos Tzolis, has been linked with a move to Crystal Palace but is in the travelling party to Scotland.

That is a big boost for Brugge, as their wide men are key threats. Along with Tzolis down the left, Carlos Forbs caused havoc down the right in the last round against Salzburg and got on the scoresheet in the 3-2 home win.

The Portuguese speedster was on loan at Wolves last season and his directness is imposing, along with Tzolis and new signing Mamdou Diakhon from Stade Reims, who could make his debut.

Veteran midfielder and captain Hans Vanaken has come up with big moments in the Champions League regularly for Brugge and is good for a goal and an assist from midfield.

If Rangers give up 27 shots, like they did in Plzen, they will be punished by Brugge despite their lack of a clinical centre forward.

The Ibrox side have shown this season, and in previous campaigns, they can produce big nights at Ibrox, and they will need to do so again to reach the league phase.

This Brugge side are young and far from unbeatable. But to take a healthy advantage into the away leg - as Rangers have done in the past two rounds - it will take the best performance of Martin's short tenure.

Rangers have revived interest in Roma left-back Anass Salah-Eddine, with Spanish side Elche also keen on the 23-year-old. (Il Messaggero via Daily Record, external)

Rangers have dismissed an approach from Lille to take striker Hamza Igamane on loan. (Rangers Review - subscription required), external

Maccabi Tel Aviv forward Dor Turgeman, previously linked with Rangers, is close to joining New England Revolution in the MLS. (Luca Bendoni on X), external