Russell Martin walking on thin ice after Rangers lineup leaked for Club Brugge clash
Russell Martin isn’t doing himself any favours as a possible Rangers starting lineup has leaked to face Club Brugge on Wednesday.
Brugge secured a 3-1 win over Rangers in the first leg of the Champions League play-off and are seen as favourites to qualify to the group stage as they host the Gers at the Jan Breydel Stadium on 27 August.
Martin dropped more points against St Mirren in the William Hill Premiership, making it three consecutive draws to start the league season, which has led to questions about the manager’s future.
While the squad has let down the former Southampton boss, his insistence on playing some of the players could potentially lead to his sacking.
Joe Rothwell starts in leaked Rangers lineup vs Club Brugge
Martin may be about to make some significant changes against Brugge, with Max Aarons possibly being dropped in favour of James Tavernier in the leaked starting lineup provided by the Daily Record.
The Bournemouth loanee hasn’t had the best of starts to his career at Ibrox, and it would make sense for the Scottish manager to trust his captain.
With the 39-year-old head coach in desperate need of a positive result, it makes sense that drastic steps need to be taken at the Light Blues, but seemingly dropping Nicolas Raskin to the bench doesn’t make sense.
Rothwell’s recent performances under Martin have arguably been pitiful, yet he may be keeping his place in the team with Lyall Cameron and Thelo Aasgaard in the middle of the park.
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LOSC Lille look set to sign Hamza Igamane from the Gers, with the 22-year-old expected to clear his medical with the Ligue 1 outfit.
The Ibrox faithful will be raging with the Morocco international for refusing to come on as a substitute against St Mirren in the 1-1 draw due to an apparent injury, which now doesn’t seem to be an issue ahead of his departure.
Cyriel Dessers is also wanted by Panathinaikos, and the Nigerian centre-forward’s exit will leave Martin with a dearth of options up front.
| Statistics | Rangers | Brugge |
| Possession | 53% | 47% |
| Total shots | 15 | 10 |
| Shots on target | 1 | 7 |
| xG | 1.26 | 1.01 |
| Keeper saves | 4 | 0 |
It looks like Danilo will be starting up front for Rangers against Brugge in Belgium, and that doesn’t bode well for the Scottish manager.
The fact that Martin may have to rely on the Brazil national as his go-to number nine for the rest of the season should be concerning, considering his consistent fitness issues.
With the rest of the leaked lineup made up of Jack Butland, John Souttar, Nasser Djiga and Jayden Meghoma, beating Brugge will undoubtedly be a tall order.
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