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BBC News
31 minutes ago
- BBC News
Martin criticises mentality, egos & effort in draw
Russell Martin has managed just 270 minutes of football as Rangers head coach, and already he has left his players without a the Ibrox side's 1-1 draw at Motherwell in their opening Scottish Premiership fixture, Martin said his players were "lucky to get a point".An "extremely disappointed and hurt" Ibrox head coach said the impressive Fir Park side were "braver" and "more aggressive" than his lambasted "two men on the pitch who want to do what they want to do" and said some of his players "have to drop their ego"."The default is to revert to type," he added. "It's not really tactical, it's a mentality problem."It is the third straight season in which Rangers have failed to win their opening league match. But the first time Martin has publicly unloaded on his players. What did Martin actually say? On Wednesday in Athens, Martin acknowledged that performances could have been better across Rangers' two-legged Champions League qualifying win over Panathinaikos, but he said he was "so proud" of his days later, the mood has shifted two post-match interviews with BBC Scotland and Sky Sports, Martin chose not to hold back after his third game in charge of are the key lines from his furious reaction:"I think we were lucky to get a point. We were nowhere near where we need to be. And I'm extremely disappointed and hurt by that. They were braver than us. They were more aggressive than us.""The thing I can't accept is, whatever the tactics are, we got outfought and they were braver than us to play in certain moments."We pick and choose when we want to play properly and when we want to run hard. When the game's not going well, we have too many players that want to do their own thing and slip into self-preservation."This is not me blaming the players at all; I think it's a problem the club has had over the last few years. When it's going well, it's fine, and when it's not, there's a problem. It's not together enough on the pitch."I've said to the players, there is a default here at this football club to revert to type. When it's going really well, everyone's all in. When it's not going well, you protect yourself a little bit. You can't play for this club and just enjoy the really good moments. You have to be all in all the time.""We had two men on the pitch today that want to do what they want to do. When you want to just jog around and do what you want to do, there's a big problem. So some of them have to drop their ego.""There'll be people left behind if they don't want to come because they need to understand what playing for this football club will take and what it means.""The lethargy and all that stuff is not acceptable. So I'm surprised by that. But I'm more angry than surprised.""I will look at us tactically and accept my responsibility in it. But today, it's a mentality problem. And we got more than what we deserved, actually." What did the pundits say? Before Motherwell found their late equaliser, former Rangers midfielder Derek Ferguson has expressed deep concern about his old side's approach."At the moment there's nothing coming from Rangers; it's quite worrying," he said on BBC Sportsound. "I've not got a clue what their tactic is. I don't see it."After Motherwell netted the leveller their play more than merited, Ferguson added: "I've got a real worry after watching that second half. They players still have a lot to prove to that Rangers support."Speaking on Sky Sports, irate former Rangers striker Kris Boyd said: "It's the same things that keep happening time after time after time. "It's early in the season. We know there are going to be players arriving. We know there are going to be players going out. But the alarming thing for is he's calling them out so early on."Despite agreeing with Martin, former Celtic forward Chris Sutton was also taken aback by the Rangers boss' comments, saying the remarks "were extreme"."For him to for him to do that first game of the season, he sees him every day in training, he must think they're rank rotten," he said on Sky Sports."Because why wouldn't there be a bit more balance there? When have you ever seen a manager do that first game of the season? That was extreme as extreme." What do the stats tell us? Former Motherwell forward James McFadden said "a draw was a good result for Rangers based on that performance".The comment was perhaps made with tongue in cheek, but the stats back up it expected goals tally by the end of the match was 2.21 to Rangers' 0.7. Jens Berthel Askou's brave and expansive side finished the game with five big chances, according to stats provider Opta. Rangers had 17 shots Martin's side faced at Fir Park means his team have faced 51 efforts across just three games this those three matches, Rangers have conceded only twice, but their opponents have amassed a total expected goals tally of is simply unsustainable, and Martin will know that more than anyone. What do the fans think? Bill: It's very early, but I would be surprised if this Rangers team put in a challenge for the league title. Very Anyone got paint on a wall drying? Better watch than Russell Martin's boring Brutal. [Martin] does not have a clue. No style, no direction, no Different manager, different team, same guff from Same old Rangers, can't close a game out.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Moment of Siraj magic leaves shoddy England with mountain to climb
England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, so often pivotal to their team's fortunes, must have thought they were about to do their job of surviving a tortuous 70 minutes through to stumps, and thereby set things up perfectly for the chase. But if so they had reckoned without another piece of magic from Mohammed Siraj, who with the penultimate scheduled delivery of the day floated the perfect yorker past Crawley's posthumous bat-lunge. The bowler, who sank England's first innings below the waterline, leapt high before being mobbed by team-mates. It leaves England 50 for one — which is effectively 50 for two — needing another 324 to win and facing the likelihood of being pegged back to 2-2 in a series which they had appeared poised to win a number of times. One was when India were rocking at nought for two and still 311 in arrears at Old Trafford, only to escape with a draw. Another was on Friday afternoon when England were 129 for one in reply to India's 224.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
DROP THE EGO! Rangers boss Martin hits out at his players' mentality after dropping points on the first day of the Premiership season
Russell Martin last night let rip at the Self-Preservation Society dragging down the Rangers dressing-room and vowed to weed out the egos and hiders that were lucky to escape from Fir Park with a 1-1 draw. The Ibrox head coach saw yesterday begin with a £3million fee being agreed with Dutch club Go Ahead Eagles for Finnish winger Oliver Antman. However, it quickly turned into a nightmare with a terrible display at Motherwell seeing home forward Emmanuel Longelo cancel out a James Tavernier opener with three minutes to play – and Rangers keeper Jack Butland then having to save a point in time added-on when denying Tom Sparrow. Rangers have now failed to win their opening-day league fixture for three straight seasons and Martin read the riot act afterwards with a scathing critique of his side and their mental fragility. 'The problem should be tactical. It shouldn't be mentality,' said Martin. 'We have too many guys that slip into self-preservation mode and I think it's been a fact of this club for the last few years, for sure. 'When it's going well, you're all-in, you want to run, you want the ball. It's nice, but, when it's not going well, you don't want to run so much, you pick and choose when you want to run. 'You pick and choose when you want to compete and mark your player from a throw-in or a corner. You pick and choose when to run back, and it's unacceptable for this sort of club. 'For us as a coaching staff, this is not acceptable. We're six weeks in. There will be issues, but the issue today is purely mentality. Too much ego, too much self-preservation, and you're either all in all the time or you're not. 'If you're not, you just won't play very much. I'm very disappointed and a bit hurt and a bit angry at a lot of stuff I saw. 'The problems haven't been tactical yet, really. They've been mentality, about energy, about courage, intensity, aggression, to play. We haven't started games well enough in the first half in the two European games. 'We then showed a bit more willingness to trust the detail in each other and work. Then, today, we go ahead and we're playing some OK stuff. Every time we get in the final third, we turn the ball over and make crazy decisions. 'They're either selfish decisions or they're based on anxiety, so we need to get to the bottom of that - because there was far too much stuff that we haven't worked on or haven't seen. 'I take full responsibility for it, but that hurts me more than anything.' Martin admitted he has not been entirely surprised by the mentality problems which surfaced with a vengeance in Motherwell. 'When I knew I was in for the job, I watched a lot of games where players could do what they want and that's not on the manager,' he said. 'I thought Barry Ferguson did a great job, I could see what Philippe Clement was trying to do. But players sometimes? Yeah, same problems really, want to run, sometimes don't. 'You need better mentality than that to play for this football club and to actually win things. 'We'll work out the guys who are all-in all the time. Lyall Cameron came on, was fantastic. John (Souttar), Nasser (Djiga), Jack (Butland) did great. 'We have to solve it as a group. We've been really demanding with them on certain rules. Not many, just, I think, really basic ones that should be demanded at this football club. 'A little bit of resistance to that from some, not a lot, because they know and understand why and it's best for them.' Martin was aware of an angry reaction from the visiting support at time-up and had no problem with that at all. 'I 100-per-cent understand,' he said. 'I was as angry as they were. So I completely understand the supporters' reaction. We have a point that we didn't deserve. 'We let them down. The mentality of the team, I spoke about it so much since we came in, and it was a big problem.' Antman is expected to complete his transfer in the coming days and Martin is clear he needs more to turn this team around as he prepares for Tuesday's Champions League third qualifying round first leg with Viktoria Plzen at Ibrox. 'We need some better players to help us, for sure,' he said. 'We need some players that we feel will do what we're asking them to do all the time. 'The ones who are here are good enough to do it. They just need to make a choice if they want to do it. 'There's different groups of people at every club. Some are looking and going: 'That's too much for me. It's too much. Demand's too much. Training's too much'. 'They just want to float through a little bit, so they get left behind. That's fine. Then you have the guys in the middle who can go either way but they'll always be attracted to what is the majority. 'I feel we have the majority who want to play in this way and understand it will make them successful. The ones maybe in the middle need to go that way or they'll just be left behind. Asked if bad mentalities can be overcome, Martin replied: 'Yes, because it's a reflection of me ultimately. Whenever I leave this football club in a few years, hopefully in a long time, the problem won't be the mentality of the team.'
