Latest news with #NicolasRaskin
Scotsman
3 days ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
Rangers starting XI vs Dundee as Russell Martin makes Ibrox decision on James Tavernier and Nicolas Raskin
Russell Martin has named his Rangers starting XI for the Scottish Premiership clash against Dundee at Ibrox. Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Rangers head coach Russell Martin has named his starting XI for the Scottish Premiership clash against Dundee at Ibrox this evening (kick-off: 5.45pm) as his side look to take their first three points of the season. The Gers were denied an opening day win for the third season in succession last week when Motherwell's Emmanuel Longelo's 87th strike cancelled out James Tavernier's early header at Fir Park, though an impressive 3-0 win over Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League qualifiers on Tuesday helped lift some of the gloom in Govan. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Nicolas Raskin was left out of Rangers Champions League qualifier against Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday night. | SNS Group As for the evening's visitors, Dundee, it has been a tough start to the campaign under new head coach Steven Pressley. Crashing out of the Premier Sports Cup at the group stage, they lost 2-1 in their opening game of the season against Hibs at Dens Park last weekend. In further bad news, talisman and captain Simon Murray has been ruled out of the game at Ibrox with a knee injury. Cesar Garza (head) and Charlie Reilly (shoulder) are also out of the clash at Ibrox. After being left out of the starting XI in the midweek game against Viktoria Plzen, Rangers captain Tavernier and Nicolas Raskin remain on the substitutes bench. Thelo Aasgaard and Hamza Igamane are still missing with knocks, while long-term absentee Dujon Sterling will be ruled out until at least the new year with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Martin keeps faith with Cyriel Dessers in the forward position after his goal-scoring return in midweek, new signing Oliver Antman begins on the right-hand side of midfield, while Lyall Cameron is handed his first league start against his former club.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Martin 'won't lose sleep' over Rangers team leak
Russell Martin will not "overly stress" about his Rangers team being leaked before Tuesday's Champions League qualifying win over Viktoria at the weekend's 1-1 draw away to Motherwell, Rangers' new head coach dropped four players, including captain James Tavernier and last season's star performer, midfielder Nicolas Raskin, for the first leg at Ibrox against the Czech team selection for what turned out to be a commanding 3-0 victory was widely known on social media hours before the kick-off."I've said to the guys, it's not ideal," Martin said. "But I'm also not going to lose sleep over it." Martin reckons "it has become more common in the modern game" that leaks happen."I was told when I turned up to the stadium because I'm not on any social media," he revealed."People are left out, they tell their agents, friends and family - then somehow it gets to the media quickly. I can't really control any of that."I don't think anyone would do it from inside this building to intentionally hurt us."I'm not sure it changes the opposition's plan eight hours before a game as they'll have done pretty much all of their work by then I presume."Despite the leak, Martin still prefers to name his team "really early" before a match."It means people don't waste time or energy wondering if they're in the team and we can work on certain things," he said."There's enough stuff in this job to be concerned about and to focus on all the time, so I'm not going to overly stress about the team being leaked."Martin will again be without new signings Mikey Moore and Thelo Aasgaard, plus fellow forward Hamza Igamane, for Saturday's Scottish Premiership visit by is still waiting on international clearance as he is deemed a minor by world governing body Fifa, but the loanee from Tottenham Hotspur will be available once he turns 18 on Aasgaard and Igamane are working their way back to full fitness.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Martin's changes pay off as Gassama double eases Rangers past Viktoria Plzen
Russell Martin's bold team selection paid off as Rangers defeated Viktoria Plzen 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie at Ibrox. Martin hit out at some of his squad following their deflating 1-1 draw at Motherwell on Saturday, questioning mentality, egos and application and the captain, James Tavernier, and the midfielder Nicolas Raskin were the biggest names among the expected changes. Martin got the required reaction as the winger Djeidi Gassama scored after 15 minutes before the returning striker Cyriel Dessers added a second from the spot just before the interval. Gassama, signed this summer from Sheffield Wednesday, scored his side's third in the 51st minute to put the Govan side into a commanding lead and eventually a comfortable win. Martin said: 'I really enjoyed it. I'm proud of the guys. We had a really difficult evening on Saturday, just because there was not enough running in behind, aggression, intensity with the ball. We were not just ranting and raving, we showed a lot of clips and we tried to do a lot of learning in the meeting room and on the pitch in the last couple of days and they took it on brilliantly. 'The guys that came in the team were fantastic. We're going to need everyone. You don't get dropped from this team, people come in and out quite a lot because we need to be fresh.' Martin claimed Tavernier was understanding of Martin's decision to leave him on the sidelines. He said: 'Yeah, yeah, he was great – all the guys. I say my piece, if they have a piece to say, then it's really respectful and really honest. But I think the way he played when he came on showed you everything you need to know. So there's been no problem and I don't envisage there being any problems moving forward.' Rangers will be heavy favourites to progress to a playoff tie against the Austrian side RB Salzburg or Club Brugge of Belgium. After pointing the finger at his underperformers at the weekend, all eyes were on Martin's team selection and he made significant changes. Along with Tavernier and Raskin – arguably their best player last season – Danilo and Kieran Dowell were left out. Oliver Antman, the Finland winger who joined from Go Ahead Eagles on Monday, made his debut with the left-back Jefté, the midfielder Lyall Cameron and Dessers returning while John Souttar was named captain. The Ibrox crowd was more subdued than usual on a big European night, initially. In the seventh minute Plzen's lofty striker Rafiu Durosinmi headed a cross from Amar Memic past the post but it was Gassama who struck first, playing a one-two with Dessers at the edge of the visitors' box before confidently curling the ball past the goalkeeper Florian Wiegele. After the Rangers defender Nasser Djiga brilliantly blocked a goal-bound shot from the visiting captain ,Matej Vydra, Antman's drive from a Gassama cut-back at the other end was cleared off the line by Vaclav Jemelka. When a driving run into the box by Antman ended with him being barged over by Vydra, Turpin pointed to the spot for a soft penalty and Dessers sent Wiegele the wrong way. Rangers started the second half strongly and within three minutes the midfielder Mohamed Diomande struck the bar with an effort from the edge of the box. However, the third soon arrived as Gassama grabbed his second when he bulleted in a header from a pinpoint Antman cross from the right to score his fourth goal in the past three European matches. Raskin, Danilo, and Tavernier all came off the bench when the job was done before the home keeper Jack Butland made a good save from a powerful drive from Memic. Malmö's home match against their local rivals FC Copenhagen ended in a goalless draw. The teams are separated by the Øresund Bridge which is the fastest route between Sweden and Denmark. Anderson Silva's late goal for Pafos fired them to a 1-0 victory against Dynamo Kyiv. A first-half penalty from Toral Bayramov secured a 1-0 away win for Qarabag at the Macedonian club Shkendija.
The Guardian
05-08-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Martin's changes pay off as Gassama double eases Rangers past Viktoria Plzen
Russell Martin's bold team selection paid off as Rangers battered Viktoria Plzen 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie at Ibrox. Martin hit out at some of his squad following their deflating 1-1 draw at Motherwell on Saturday, questioning mentality, egos and application, and the captain James Tavernier and the midfielder Nicolas Raskin were the biggest names among the expected changes. Martin got the required reaction as the winger Djeidi Gassama scored after 15 minutes before the returning striker Cyriel Dessers added a second from the spot just before the interval. Gassama, signed this summer from Sheffield Wednesday, scored a third in the 51st minute to put the Govan side into a commanding lead and eventually a comfortable win. Rangers will be heavy favourites to progress to a playoff tie against Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg or Club Brugge of Belgium. After pointing the finger at his under performers at the weekend, all eyes were on Martin's team selection and he made significant changes. Along with Tavernier and Raskin – arguably their best player last season – Danilo and Kieran Dowell were left out. New signing Oliver Antman, the Finland winger who joined from Go Ahead Eagles on Monday, made his debut with left-back Jefté, midfielder Lyall Cameron and Dessers returning while John Souttar was named captain. The Ibrox crowd was more subdued than usual on a big European night, initially. In the seventh minute Plzen's lofty striker Rafiu Durosinmi headed a cross from Amar Memic past the post but it was Gassama who struck first, playing a one-two with Dessers at the edge of the visitors' box before confidently curling the ball past the goalkeeper Florian Wiegele. After the Rangers defender Nasser Djiga brilliantly blocked a goal-bound shot from the visiting captain Matej Vydra, Antman's drive from a Gassama cut-back at the other end was cleared off the line by Vaclav Jemelka. Bizarrely Raskin, warming up on the sidelines, was booked by the French referee Clément Turpin for apparently trying to interfere at a Plzen throw-in as the Czech side began to exert some pressure. However, when a driving run into the box by Antman ended with him being barged over by Vydra, Turpin pointed to the spot for a soft penalty and Dessers sent Wiegele the wrong way. Rangers started the second half strongly and within three minutes the midfielder Mohamed Diomande struck the bar with an effort from the edge of the box. However, the third soon arrived as Gassama grabbed his second when he bulleted in a header from a pinpoint Antman cross from the right to score his fourth goal in the last three European matches. Raskin, Danilo, and Tavernier all came off the bench when the job was done before the home keeper Jack Butland made a good save from a powerful drive from Memic.
BBC News
05-08-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Rangers 3-0 Viktoria Plzen: What Martin said
Rangers head coach Russell Martin told BBC Scotland: "I'm really happy with a lot of it. A bit annoyed with the last 15 minutes since I felt we had the ball too much in our own half, but that's my job to be demanding of the guys."I think from Saturday to today, they took everything on, amazing energy at the start of the game, and real moments of quality actually."It's really difficult to learn a lot of detail and apply it with the right intensity and courage all the time, especially after a tough afternoon on Saturday, so I'm really proud of the team."On the omissions of James Tavernier and Nicolas Raskin: "I don't like the word dropped. I said that to the guys, you don't get dropped from the team, we're going to need everyone."People are going to come in, people are going to come out, so we need that freshness."It's not easy to drop anyone, especially players that have been really important to this team over the last however long, but the decisions are all difficult, one is not tougher than the other."You have to do what you think is best for the team to win on the night and, to be fair, they've come on and played brilliantly."I know there's a tendency up here for one thing to become a big thing really quickly, and it's not at all. Tonight was the best team, and Saturday will be a different team again I'm sure."
