4 days ago
Panicked Rangers pundits uncover Russell Martin truth as Kris Boyd 'worries' spiral after Plzen
It was a nervy night against the Czech side before reaching the play-off with a 4-2 aggregate victory
Rangers saw off Vikrotia Plzen to progress in the Champions League and reach the playoff round.
But after carrying a three goal advantage into the second leg things were far from straightforward.
The Czechs passed up countless opportunities as they dominated the second leg on home turf - but Lyall Cameron's goal in a 2-1 defeat proved to be enough to put the game beyond the hosts.
It's now onto Club Brugge despite a nervy night in a shoot-out for the £40million jackpot in the league phase.
And Kris Boyd admits he is concerned about the defensive issues that are already creeping into the Light Blues' game.
He told Sky Sports: "I think when you get to this stage, the main thing is just to get through, but once again it's a worry for me - and it will be a worry for Russell Martin - the two goals are really poor defensively.
" Jefte for the first one, and it looks like they got off the back of Joe Rothwell for the second.
"The work was done in the first leg, they managed to get that away goal and settle themselves down again."
Concerned Stephen Thompson reckons that a better team than Plzen would have sent the Scottish Premiership side out of the competition.
He told BBC Sportsound: "The performance wasn't good. What he (Russell Martin) will be satisfied with is the job that they did at Ibrox, but the performance just wasn't there tonight.
"If they were playing against a better quality of team they could have lost this game, it could have gone to extra-time with the chances they missed.
"Credit (Jack) Butland with one incredible save, but they can't afford to play like that against whoever comes through into the playoff game.
"You guarantee they won't pass up those kinds of gifts. I don't think the performance was good, but the job was done at Ibrox."
Ian McCall shared the concerns over the backline and Martin's style of play, adding: "I think it's really important to have principles, but for me you have got to be flexible.
"But when you have got principles you don't have to rip everything up. You can tweak it a little bit just to get through a game, but Russell Martin appears to not want to do that.
"He had a tough time in the Premier League, but he's had success. I think it's really good to be strong and have your beliefs, but it's okay to tweak it."
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