Russell Martin must simply axe Rangers player who ‘looks like a bag of nerves’ vs Hearts
Rangers are looking for their first Scottish Premiership win of the season as they take on Hearts on Saturday.
Russell Martin is facing intense scrutiny as manager, with Ibrox expected to be a cauldron of noise as they host the league leaders.
New signings could make their debuts, whilst one Rangers player is under severe pressure following his tough start to life at the club.
Nasser Djiga ‘a bag of nerves’ in the Rangers defence
Djiga joined Rangers on a loan deal from Wolves and has struggled with life at Ibrox so far.
Journalist Daniel Caw, speaking via the Daily Record’s Hotline Live on 11 September, believes that Hearts should target Rangers defender Djiga at Ibrox on Saturday.
He said: “If Djiga plays, and if I’m a Hearts striker, I would fancy my chances against him.
“He looks like a bag of nerves every time he plays.”
Djiga faced criticism from Ally McCoist following his dismal display in the 6-0 loss to Club Brugge.
His performance in Belgium was weak, allowing Brugge stars Nicolo Tresoldi and Hans Vanaken to score goals, which could have been easily avoided.
He showed no physicality for the first goal, whilst he threw himself to the ground during the second goal, claiming he had been fouled after the slightest of pushes.
Journalist Mark Guidi believes Djiga could cause problems if Rangers are serious about mounting a title challenge this season.
| Match | FotMob rating |
| Celtic (31 August) | 7.4 |
| Club Brugge (27 August) | 4.4 |
| Club Brugge (19 August) | 5.3 |
Rangers have conceded 16 goals in all competitions this season, and this record must improve if Martin is to remain as Rangers manager.
As seen above, Rangers cannot field a centre-back who is nowhere near Champions League quality if they are to perform on a domestic and European front.
The natural solution would be to drop Djiga, move John Souttar back to his favoured right centre-back role, and bring new signing Derek Cornelius into the starting lineup.
Derek Cornelius must start alongside John Souttar
One of the few things Rangers fans can be excited about is that Djiga should be dropped, with Cornelius set to take his place.
Cornelius is a left-footed centre-back who slots in to the side perfectly, and he possesses great qualities that Martin is looking for in a ball-playing defender.
Having joined G51 in order to get consistent game time ahead of the 2026 World Cup, Cornelius’ brilliant free kick for Canada during a friendly against Wales means he will come to Scotland full of confidence.
His role in the team would allow Souttar to return to right centre-back, with the Scotland international looking uncomfortable playing on his weaker left side.
Souttar kept two clean sheets during the international break, and alongside Cornelius, he should perform much better than he has recently in a Rangers shirt.
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.