Michael Stewart slams Martin for ‘playing to the galleries’ after Rangers admission
Rangers haven’t gotten off to the best of starts under Russell Martin.
The Gers drew 1-1 against Motherwell at Fir Park on 2 August in the Scottish Premiership, leaving the 39-year-old head coach disappointed after the game.
While the Light Blues did get past Panathinaikos in the Champions League second qualifying round, it wasn’t the most vintage of performances.
The former Southampton boss has a lot of work to do at the Glaswegian outfit after some underwhelming performances, and is already coming under pressure.
Rangers showing v Motherwell no different to Panathinaikos game
Michael Stewart doesn’t believe there was much difference in the Gers’ performance against Motherwell and Panathinaikos.
What was different was Martin’s reaction to the two results, with the Scottish manager satisfied with the display in Athens, while he was fuming at Fir Park.
Stewart feels the 39-year-old head coach was “playing to the galleries” with his comments after the draw, and the ex-Saints boss has several questions to answer at Ibrox.
| Statistics | Motherwell | Rangers |
| Posession | 38% | 62% |
| xG | 2.21 | 0.7 |
| Total shots | 17 | 15 |
| Big chances | 5 | 1 |
Speaking on the Scottish Football Social Club (4 August), the former Hearts midfielder said: “Why are you playing Max Aarons at left-back when he can’t play left-back? Why are you playing Kieran Dowell at right wing when he can’t play right wing? Why are you playing Danilo as centre-forward when he doesn’t look fit?
“These are valid questions because the here and now is that I don’t think the performance against Panathinaikos was any different from the performance against Motherwell. When you actually take a step back and look at those performances, I don’t see much difference.
“The difference was that Martin said he was so proud of his players against Panathinaikos, yet against Motherwell, he was talking about it being unacceptable. And that to me feels a little bit like you’re playing to the galleries.”
Martin should make swift changes at Ibrox
Aarons has looked uncomfortable under Martin, with the Bournemouth loanee playing as a left-back.
The 25-year-old has been played as an inverted full-back by the Scottish manager and has made several errors in the opening few matches.
It doesn’t look like the 39-year-old head coach will make a change with the English defender unless absolutely necessary.
- Martin doesn’t trust Jefte at Ibrox.
- The Scottish manager faced criticism for substituting his midfield trio at Fir Park.
- Changes are arguably needed up front.
There are other aspects that Martin should look to tinker with, starting with Dowell’s influence at Rangers.
The English attacker has put in underwhelming performances at right wing, but the Scottish manager still seems to trust him.
Cyriel Dessers may have also played himself into the starting lineup after his cameo at Fir Park, and Danilo hasn’t helped himself either after failing to make any sort of impact.
It remains to be seen whether Martin will take any lessons from the recent fixtures.
Sign up for the Ibrox News WhatsApp channel and turn on notifications to have all the latest, breaking Rangers news sent straight to your phone.