Rangers manager Russell Martin was furious with his side’s performance, after they began the Scottish league season with a 1-1 draw against Motherwell on opening day.
The Gers dropped points for a third consecutive season on opening day, as they were booed by fans at the end of the match.
James Tavernier opened the scoring for Martin’s side with a well-placed header in the 14th minute before Longelo equalized for the hosts with three minutes of normal time left.
Speaking after the match, the former Southampton manager expressed disappointment with his players’ display, stating that they were lucky with the result.
“We were nowhere near where we need to be, and I’m extremely disappointed and hurt by that. They were braver than us, they were more aggressive than us”, Martin expressed.
“There is a default here at this football club, and it’s not one person’s fault at all.
The default is to revert to type, which is when it’s going really well, everyone’s all in and it’s really good. When it’s not going well, you protect yourself a little bit and self-preservation stuff.”
Martin was appointed in June succeeding Philippe Clemente, who was dismissed in February after turning in series of disappointing results.
Despite overseeing qualification into the third round of the UEFA Champions League, the 39-year-old stressed the need for improvement.
“When you want to just jog around and do what you want to do, there’s a big problem. Some of them have to drop their ego, I’ll look at us tactically and accept my responsibility in it.
But today, it’s not really tactical, it’s a mentality problem, and we got more than what we deserved actually. We need work out who really wants to be all in and who doesn’t”, he continued.
“But Europe is not an excuse. This club demands to play in Europe. We’ve qualified for that, so we’re going to be playing in Europe a lot and we’re going to have games after the European games a lot, and we have to manage them way better than today.”
Rangers host Viktoria Plzen in the first leg of their UCL third round qualifying round on Tuesday with the return leg set to hold on the 12th of August.
Olakitan is a young writer with a strong passion for sports, having gained experience with IndyPress and Nimelssa Press. His enthusiasm for sports inspired him to cover events both within his school and beyond. With a deep understanding of the game and a refined skillset, he brings sports coverage to a broad, global audience in a way that’s engaging and accessible.
