Russell Martin says his criticism of the Rangers gamers was “not an attack on anyone personally” however insists that he’s not on the membership to “play games”.
Rangers have been booed off on Saturday after Motherwell earned a late 1-1 draw on the opening day of the Scottish Premiership season.
Martin stated afterwards that a few of his gamers must “drop their ego” and that the membership must “work out who really wants to be all in”.
Talking forward of Tuesday’s Champions League third qualifying spherical first leg at house to Viktoria Plzen, Martin didn’t again down along with his evaluation of their efficiency.
“I’m just always going to be honest with the players and the supporters,” he stated. “I am simply not right here to play any video games and be political and all that. I am in a job that calls for sure issues, and after we fall wanting that, there’s simply no level in hiding behind stuff.
“The basic downside on Saturday was not information, was not capability, it was angle. I wasn’t emotional on Saturday, it was precisely what I stated to the gamers. The response has been good.
“It is the identical previous stuff I’ve stated from day one, which is struggle, willingness to run, to assist one another out. It’s onerous to play for this membership; it is not for everybody, it is not simple. It’s a must to be a extremely resilient and powerful individual.
“The self-preservation stuff I spoke about happens throughout football. It’s really difficult when you’re having tough moments, you slip back into trying to protect yourself, but actually, that doesn’t help. I have empathy for players when it gets tough, but let’s always go back to being really horrible and hard to play against.
“We weren’t onerous sufficient to play in opposition to on Saturday, so that is what it got here right down to. There was no level in sugarcoating it; the gamers know what to anticipate. I am actually trustworthy with them, and I used to be actually trustworthy with everybody else, and folks could make what they need of it.”
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Martin stated some Rangers gamers ‘have to drop their ego’ in a brutal evaluation of their 1-1 draw in opposition to Motherwell
On questioning the gamers’ ego, Martin added: “It depends how you define ego. When I talk about that, it’s the self-preservation stuff. And I don’t mean it in a bad way. You need a bit of ego and a bit of edge to play at this football club, for sure.
“To achieve success right here, to take the ball, to wish to present folks that you are a good participant, it’s important to have it. So it is not essentially a foul factor.
“When I talk about it on Saturday, it’s like the looking around when we lose the ball and maybe throwing your arms up at each other and all that stuff. And it’s like, no, come on, you don’t need to do that anymore. We’re going to protect you. We’re going to look after you.”
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Chris Sutton reacts to Martin’s post-match interview after the 1-1 draw at Motherwell
Sky Sports activities’ Kris Boyd stated it was “alarming” that Martin was calling out his gamers so early into his tenure, whereas Chris Sutton stated the Rangers boss was proper to do it.
“Gone early with what?” stated Martin in response. “There’s no choice to be honest sometimes, and then sometimes not.
“That is how I really feel in life normally and in my job. And it is how I have been for six years with the gamers. There’s been a few instances once I’ve completed it at earlier golf equipment and by no means needed to do it once more.
“But again, it’s the same conversation with the players. And then when they come in and they look at stuff, I think they understand why I would say it. So it’s not an attack on anyone personally.”
Martin continued: “We’re three games in, we haven’t been beaten in any of them games, but we have a lot to improve and work on. The stuff to improve needs to be technical, tactical. While we’re building and changing so much, and change can often be messy, the things that we need to work on can’t be mentality.
“It must be the remainder of it, the element, the technical stuff, the tactical stuff. We’ll work on that collectively, and we’ll get higher and develop, however let’s construct it on the premise of a extremely sturdy mentality wherever we go.
“It’s learned behaviour and habits. We need to create better habits throughout the whole team, throughout the whole club. Habits that we can actually rely on when times get tough, rather than the whole piece falling apart and imploding.”
