4 days ago
I totally back Russell Martin's treatment on Rangers rule breakers – and here's why, says Graeme Souness
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GRAEME SOUNESS has backed Russell Martin's no-nonsense decision to axe skipper James Tavernier and Nico Raskin.
Both players were benched for Rangers' crucial Champions League clash with Viktoria Plzen at Ibrox on Tuesday night.
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James Tavernier and Nico Raskin were left on the subs' bench by Russell Martin
Credit: Willie Vass
Martin made the bold call after slamming the self-preservation attitude and ego within his dressing room after the weekend 1-1 draw with Motherwell.
And Ibrox legend Souey insists: 'When I was a manager I expected the senior players to be the standard bearers.
'They were the ones that had to set the standards within the dressing room.
'And that's how it should be.
'I'm a great believer that you don't have a successful football club unless you have good senior pros.
'And maybe he's expecting a bit more from some of the senior pros than he got at the weekend.
'And I don't see anything wrong with him digging them out and saying, 'Look, it ain't good enough,' and then taking it forward to the next game and leaving them out.
'I don't see anything wrong with that. It's all on his head. It's his decisions that'll make him successful or not.
'You'd have to say that he's put his foot down pretty quickly.
'And I don't see that as a bad thing.
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'I think you're putting a marker down that 'I have my standards and you're going to have to come up to my standards to be a regular member or a starter in this team.'
'It's not about him dropping his standards to accommodate players.
'A manager has to be the boss, and I think it's never been more difficult for a manager today to do that job than certainly when I was working.
'I always felt Jock Stein was harder on Kenny Dalglish and me with the Scottish team.
'He didn't go after the younger guys and I think the message he was getting across to us was, 'I can pick on these and I can bully them.'
'He did that; I was frightened of him. Although I'm not sure Kenny was! But the message was, 'If I can do that to them, you make sure you're on it.''
Souness - who was at Ibrox for the 3-0 win over Czechs Pzlen - firmly believes his old club is set to be transformed by new owner Andrew Cavanagh and the 49ers enterprises shareholding.
He added: 'I think the new guys have started well. The noises that have come out sound very professional and it's as if they know what they're doing.
'This is not a case of will they get it right. This is a case of when they get it right.
'This is not their first dip into soccer.
'And like in any new business, they will have made some mistakes down in England with Leeds United.
'And I expect them to hit the ground running to a certain point. From what I'm hearing from within the club and how it comes out publicly, I'm very much encouraged.'
Souness sparked a Rangers revival in 1986 when he became Ibrox player-boss in a stunning appointment. Asked if the arrival of Cavenagh was just as significant, he added: 'Yes. 100 percent.
'As I said, these people understand soccer. Do they fully understand what Glasgow Rangers is about?
'I'm sure they have realised that this is a unique football club and a unique football experience.
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'It's a very special football club. And working in the west of Scotland is quite unique, trust me!
'But people know what roles they've got within the organisation.
'And I think there's a clear path that's being led from the top. I think everyone now knows their job and they can get on with it.'
'This was always going to happen. There were always going to get people coming in that have the financial muscle and the know-how and an eagerness to understand how it works up here.
'I think it's a good thing having people coming in from outside and starting with a clean piece of paper and saying, 'right, we've done this before, what applies before will apply in Glasgow.'
'There'll be enormous similarities. There'll be a lot of stuff they can back into Rangers.
'And there'll be other things that they'll have to work out for themselves that are quite unique here.'
Graeme Souness was promoting Premier Sports' coverage of Scottish football including over 80 matches from the Scottish Premiership, Premier Sports Cup, Scottish Cup and KDM Evolution Trophy. Fans can watch an entire season of football for only £99 using promo code PSCUP25.
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