John Souttar accepts Rangers fan fury as he demands flops share Russell Martin's burden
John Souttar has backed under-fire Rangers boss Russell Martin - and says they ALL deserve to face the fans' fury.
The Ibrox defender was part of their 3-1 Champions League play-off defeat to Club Brugge last night, which has left them with a mountain to climb in the second-leg to reach the group phase.
Some disgruntled punters left the ground before half-time after the Belgians raced into a three-goal lead inside 20 minutes. And Martin's team were roundly booed off at the end.
It's been a poor start to the campaign for Rangers, having failed to win their opening two league games against Motherwell and Dundee.
Martin is getting it in the neck from supporters but Souttar has defended his gaffer and says it's a collective responsibility.
He said: 'Look, I think it's unfair for him to take the flak.
'I think we all have to take it. It's not just the manager, I think we are all due it.
'Everyone at this club who wants to play here has to understand that when things are not going well and demands are not met - then you are going to take flak. You need to accept that.
'In the first half on Tuesday we actually shot ourselves in the foot with how we started. When you give away the goals we did, that makes any game difficult.
'Especially a game like that when there is so much at stake and we are playing against a team of that quality.
'In the second half we were a bit better and made them a bit more uncomfortable. But the damage was done before that.'
Rangers will need to pull off a miracle in Brugge next Wednesday to overturn the two-goal deficit and qualify against the odds.
Souttar says they must defend better in Belgium but - after performing well away in Europe for a few years before Martin arrived - he still believes they can pull off an unlikely result.
He said: 'We brought pressure on ourselves by conceding those two goals in the manner we did.
'That makes everything harder so we have to go over there and be on the front foot.
'We can't afford to give goals away the way we did.
'We need to implement our game plan on them, instead of giving them the start we did.
'There is still the belief because we have had big results away from home in Europe in the last few years.
'But there is no point saying that - we need to go and show it.'
Souttar admits Rangers handed Brugge their goals on a plate at Ibrox and allowed them to enjoy their Glasgow visit.
In recent years, European clubs haven't relished a trip to Ibrox but the Scotland centre-back knows they made it far too easy for the Belgians.
Now, he's holding on to the fact Martin's men at least showed some kind of spirit in the second half to give themselves a chance in the away leg.
He said: "Of course we have to cling on to that. We have to cling on to something.
'The way we played in the second half, we were on the front foot but obviously it's easier when you have nothing to lose.
'We wanted to start like that. But when you lose two goals like that it naturally derails everything.
'We were a bit better in the second half and when we go over there next week we've got to play like that.
"On Tuesday night, we gave them confidence and that made life so difficult.
'We've had good European nights here and Ibrox has been a place where opposition teams don't feel comfortable.
"But we gave Brugge that comfort. So when you give teams that comfort, it's a lot easier for them to play out from the back, take risks and be more relaxed. We gifted them that luxury.
'It's important when we have European games here that we get the crowd on our side and make the opposition uncomfortable.
'That's our biggest asset and we just didn't do that."
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