Former Rangers ace blasts 'repetitive' Russell Martin after 'not convincing' Genk Europa League nightmare
The former Scotland under-21 International compared the Rangers boss to Philippe Clement
After a brief hiatus following the Hibs win, Russell Martin’s job is severely under threat again after the Genk defeat.
In what could’ve been a statement performance to help get the fans back onside, Rangers lost 1-0 to the Belgian side at Ibrox, in an underwhelming Ibrox display. Mohamed Diomande’s rash challenge in the first half led to a straight red card, giving the Royal Blues a mountain to climb. Shortly after, former Celtic striker Oh Hyeon-gyu’s had a penalty saved by Jack Butland. Despite this, it was one-way traffic for the visitors in the second half, as Oh made no mistake when he was put through on goal by Jarne Steuckers, who took advantage of the disorganised Gers defence.
The sending off may be the talking point for Rangers, but the reality is that even when it was eleven vs eleven, it is a game they’d be expected to dominate, against a side that are 14th in the Belgian Pro League. Even in recent years when the side haven’t performed domestically, they have still made a good account of themselves in Europe, but that wasn’t the case on Thursday night.
Former Rangers and Dundee striker, Rory Loy believes Rangers were ‘not convincing’ against Genk and that Russell Martin is resembling Philippe Clement in his post-match interviews. He was speaking on BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast alongside Inverness winger, David Wotherspoon.
‘Genk could’ve scored four or five’
Loy said: “last night, Rangers were competitive to a point, obviously the red card doesn’t help things but in stark reality of it Genk could’ve score four or five. They’re not convincing (Rangers) and it’s getting to Philippe Clement territory now in terms of Russell Martin’s interviews and how repetitive they are.
“He’s using the same words over and over again, saying he was proud of the players in the second half, I mean they’ve lost 1-0 at home to Genk. Ok, it’s a European game and European games aren’t easy but Rangers have a history over the last few years of doing well in the Europa League and that has helped managers when they’ve come into sticky periods in the domestic league.
“If Europe isn’t going to be even semi-successful for Rangers, then fans don’t want to hear Russell Martin come out and say he’s proud of the players etc. Were they better last night (than Genk)? Not really.”
‘Frustration, negativity and anger’
Former Hibs winger, David Wotherspoon also thought Rangers were poor on the night and that the club’s performances in Europe have dropped off massively. He said: “the red card didn’t help matters and you could just feel the frustration around the stadium.
“Even if you just listen to the pundits at the end, it was just frustration, negativity and anger as to where Rangers were before on European nights. You used to enjoy watching the atmosphere, the buzz but that’s not there anymore at the moment.
“I feel for him (Martin) as well because when things aren’t going right they don’t go right, do they? And everything seems to be going against him at the moment.”