Moment Russell Martin snaps at reporter as Rangers boss doubles down on squad criticism after Motherwell draw

Scottish Sun

15 hours ago

RUSSELL MARTIN has told any Rangers stars who felt hurt by his words on Saturday that that's THEIR problem.
The Ibrox boss called out his players in the wake of the 1-1 draw with Motherwell at the weekend, claiming some of them needed to "drop their egos".
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Russell Martin spoke to reporters today on the back of the draw against Motherwell
Credit: PA
Martin's bombshell post-match interview came as quite a shock to some punters and pundits alike, but he revealed he'd had the same conversation with the squad in the dressing room at full-time.
Now 48 hours on and with the Champions League qualifier against Viktoria Plzen on the horizon, Martin has doubled down on his criticism.
During a press conference he was asked if he felt he had "gone too early" by being so honest in publicly chastising his players.
But he snapped back and insisted that nothing he said was personal - and that he can't pick and choose when to be honest.
He began: "I'm just not here to play any games really and be political and all that.
"I think I'm in a job that demands certain things and when we fall short of that, there's just no point in hiding behind stuff.
"The fundamental problem on Saturday was not knowledge, was not ability, it was attitude. I wasn't emotional on Saturday, it was exactly what I said to the players.
"The response has been good. You have to watch some clips in here, in this room you're sitting in now, and I have to explain to them why, to make them understand what's expected and what's not going to be acceptable.
"This football club and the supporters will demand certain things that are not acceptable and certain things have to be shown, every single minute you're on the pitch.
"It's the same old stuff I've said from day one, just fight, willingness to run, to help each other out.
Players are running the Rangers dressing room - Martin knows EXACTLY what he's doing
"It is hard, to play for this club is not for everyone, it's not easy. You have to be a really resilient and strong person. The self-preservation stuff I spoke about happens throughout football.
"It's really difficult when you're having tough moments, you slip back into trying to protect yourself, but actually that doesn't help.
"I have empathy for players when it gets tough, but let's always go back to being really horrible and hard to play against.
"We weren't hard enough to play against on Saturday, so that's what it came down to. There was no point in sugarcoating it, the players know what to expect, I'm really honest with them, and I was really honest with everyone else.
"People can make what they want of it. We're three games in, we haven't been beaten in any of them games, but we have a lot to improve and work on.
"The stuff to improve needs to be technical, tactical. The thing that, while we're building and changing so much, and change can often be messy, the things that need to work on can't be mentality, it has to be the rest of it.
"The detail, the technical stuff, the tactical stuff, and we'll work on that together and we'll get better and develop. Let's build it on the basis of a really strong mentality wherever we go. That has to be the bottom line."
Martin was then asked outright if such a brutally honest performance review after just one league game was "too early".
To which he clapped back: "Gone too early with what?"
"There's not a choice to be honest sometimes and then to sometimes not.
"That's how I feel in life in general and in my job and it's how I've been for six years with the players.
"There's been a couple of times when I've done it at previous clubs and never had to do it again.
"But it's the same conversation with the players. And then when they come in and they look at stuff, I think they understand why I would say it.
"So it's not an attack on anyone personally. It's about us as a football club being stronger and understanding what we need to actually bring success and to win here.
"It's not a contrived thing. It's not like, oh, he's gone early and all this stuff.
"I had a few messages about it. It's not an attack on any one person.
"It's about making sure we understand as a club, the players, the staff, the supporters, what's acceptable and what's going to help us win.
"The stuff that hurts on Saturday shouldn't be the stuff that hurts us.
"I think we need to create a culture and we need to develop some leaders already here.
"Because I think we have some that are really capable for sure."
Martin isn't looking for those leaders to be rant and rave types.
They just need to be selfless above all else and put the team before themselves.
He said: "It's none of the shouting and ranting and raving and all that stuff. It's about being selfless.
"I think it's about consistency in behaviour and performance and attitude and the selflessness to help your teammates when the going gets tough.
"And I think, you know, there's people out there and it's not the old school ranting and raving and stuff like that.
"Even when people do that, I think if they're behind that, they're actually there all the time and they're there for their teammates. I think that's what we'll look for."
Martin also had a message for anyone who did take his comments to heart.
He insists if that's the case, they probably aren't the kind of people he wants to build his squad around going forward.
Martin said: "I think if it has a detrimental effect on certain individuals, then they're probably not the ones that we want to come on a journey with us.
"If it has a detrimental effect on you and it hurts you to the point where you feel singled out, then there's probably an issue with you being all in at this place and this club and with us.
2"I don't have any worry about it being detrimental on the team.
Whenever I've questioned any of our teams in the past about attitude, the response has been fantastic."
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