{"id":10228,"date":"2025-08-19T21:45:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T21:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/10228\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T21:45:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T21:45:08","slug":"rangers-battered-as-the-boo-sea-of-ibrox-empties-on-russell-martin-and-his-brugge-flops-5-talking-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/10228\/","title":{"rendered":"Rangers battered as the boo sea of Ibrox empties on Russell Martin and his Brugge flops \u2013 5 talking points"},"content":{"rendered":"

Punters seriously questioning whether Martin really is the man to take their club forwardRangers are on the brink <\/p>\n

Russell Martin\u2019s mum might have to check on her boy again.<\/p>\n

Last week, he called to reassure her that he was OK in the Rangers<\/a> manager\u2019s job.<\/p>\n

That might not be the case now. In fact, at one stage here it looked like the Ibrox gaffer might have to get The Samaritans on the phone.<\/p>\n

Because this chastening Champions League experience against Club Brugge was anything but OK.<\/p>\n

Certainly, the first 45 minutes was a million miles away from the kind of European performance Rangers fans have come to expect.<\/p>\n

And it left punters seriously questioning whether Martin really is the man to take their club forward.<\/p>\n

His team were 3-0 down to the Belgian champs after just 20 MINUTES<\/a>– when calamitous defending led to goals from Romeo Vermant, Jorne Spileers and Brandon Mechele.<\/p>\n

Danilo<\/a> pulled one back shortly after half-time for Rangers but the damage had already been done.<\/p>\n

For Brugge\u2019s first, it was a shocking mix-up between Jack Butland and his centre-back Nasser Djiga.<\/p>\n

And that set the tone for Rangers early on.<\/p>\n

Spileers was free at a corner to make it two, before Mechele pounced on a poor clearance to rifle home a third.<\/p>\n

Danilo\u2019s strike offered a glimmer of hope, as did a VAR-disallowed Djeidi Gassama goal, but Gers couldn\u2019t mount a comeback.<\/p>\n

The display from Martin\u2019s side led to vitriol in the stands as they were booed off at the end.<\/p>\n

And despite a better showing after the break their Champions League hopes are now hanging by a threat. Here’s 5 talking points from Ibrox.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Can’t hide faults<\/strong><\/p>\n

A flurry of urgency and enthusiasm in the second half here won\u2019t mask how poor Rangers were in the first.<\/p>\n

Nor will it dampen the criticism on Martin and his players.<\/p>\n

Their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League group phase look all but dead after a disastrous first-leg defeat.<\/p>\n

But a Europa League berth might be a blessing in the long-term because this Rangers team simply aren\u2019t ready for Europe\u2019s top competition.<\/p>\n

We all know Martin\u2019s side is a work in progress.<\/p>\n

And early on here, Brugge were a level above as they ripped them apart.<\/p>\n

Martin is under pressure anyway, that comes with the job.<\/p>\n

And a defeat in this play-off tie won\u2019t necessarily pile on more. However, if his team don\u2019t up their game at St Mirren on Sunday then in the Old Firm against Celtic a week later – the flak will fly.<\/p>\n

Fans weren\u2019t in favour of his appointment and so far they\u2019re unconvinced with his style of play.<\/p>\n

In the first 45 here, supporters were apoplectic with rage after going 3-0 down.<\/p>\n

Djeidi Gassama\u2019s superb performance offered a bit of hope going forward.<\/p>\n

But the next 11 days are huge for the under-fire Rangers boss.<\/p>\n

Tough start<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was always going to be a baptism of fire for Rangers new boy Jayden Meghoma when Martin decided to throw him in at the Champions League deep end.<\/p>\n

But the Brentford kid couldn\u2019t have envisaged how his Euro bow would pan out.<\/p>\n

Meghoma\u2019s first few touches were good and – going forward – he looked confident.<\/p>\n

He even grabbed an assist for Danilo with a terrific cross as Gers threatened an unlikely comeback.<\/p>\n

But when Brugge were running all over Rangers in the first-half, the left-back endured a torrid time going the other way.<\/p>\n

Winger Carlos Forbs fancied his chances of getting in behind Meghoma at every opportunity.<\/p>\n

In the Rangers man\u2019s defence, he wasn\u2019t exactly helped out by team-mates around him.<\/p>\n

You had to feel for Meghoma. Before tonight, the biggest game of his career would have been a Carabao Cup tie for Southampton or a Championship game on loan at Preston.<\/p>\n

The youngster certainly didn\u2019t disgrace himself on his debut – even if his Ibrox career got off to the worst possible start.<\/p>\n

Dodgy stuff<\/strong><\/p>\n

The style of football you want to play is irrelevant if you can\u2019t defend properly.<\/p>\n

And right now under Martin, Rangers are an absolute shambles at the back.<\/p>\n

There was comic book stuff against Alloa in the Premier Sports Cup at the weekend when they conceded two goals.<\/p>\n

This was a step up in class against Brugge but defensively, Gers were just as poor.<\/p>\n

Rangers’ Danilo celebrates scoring to make it 3-1 <\/p>\n

All three of Brugge\u2019s goals in the first 20 minutes were preventable.<\/p>\n

It was a defensive horror show, initiated by the mix-up between Djiga and Butland for the visitors\u2019 first.<\/p>\n

Neither player took responsibility and it proved costly.<\/p>\n

For the second, Spileers had the freedom of Ibrox from a corner as Rangers were static in their zonal marking.<\/p>\n

And when Mechele made it 3-0 with a stunning finish – it came after a poor Joe Rothwell clearance and Danilo getting caught sleeping.<\/p>\n

A catalogue of defensive mistakes sealed Rangers\u2019 fate in the tie before half-time.<\/p>\n

Bomb squad<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Tavernier has been bombed out of the Rangers side a few times now. But not for a game as big as this.<\/p>\n

And you have to wonder if it\u2019s a sign of Martin gradually phasing the skipper out of a new-look team.<\/p>\n

With young left-back Meghoma just in the door at Ibrox – and Jefte on the way out – most fans expected Tavernier to start in his usual berth, with Max Aarons shifting to the left.<\/p>\n

But with Meghoma thrown in for a debut and Aarons one of Martin\u2019s key signings, there was no place for the captain on a huge European night.<\/p>\n

A penny for Tavernier’s thoughts as he watched Martin\u2019s men go three-down after 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been an incredible servant to Rangers for a decade and only a fool would write off the 33-year-old just yet.<\/p>\n

But if Martin thinks he\u2019s the man to steer the club into a bright new era – Tavernier\u2019s omission on a Champions League night might be the clearest sign yet of his plans for the future.<\/p>\n

In-form Brugge<\/strong><\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a shred of consolation for Rangers it\u2019s that they lost to a very good, polished European outfit.<\/p>\n

Club Brugge didn\u2019t have to play at their best here – largely due to the home side\u2019s mistakes – but they were still far too good for Martin\u2019s men.<\/p>\n

Nicky Hayen\u2019s team were in Glasgow last November and performed superbly against Celtic in the Champions League.<\/p>\n

How they only left Parkhead with a 1-1 draw is anyone\u2019s guess. But they were ruthless at Ibrox.<\/p>\n

Brugge skipper Hans Vanaken hardly broke sweat in midfield as he ran most of the game. Rangers\u2019 players couldn\u2019t get near the Belgian international.<\/p>\n

On the right flank, Portuguese wide man Carlos Forbs caused trouble, while Greek ace Christos Tzolis – who is a \u00a320 million target for Crystal Palace – was a constant threat.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re a top European side who will deserve their Champions League spot if they finish the job in Brugge next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Punters seriously questioning whether Martin really is the man to take their club forwardRangers are on the brink…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,9571,9963,18,13,14,6,19,17,9962,11,12,15,16,5,9959,9960,1188,7,8,9961],"class_list":{"0":"post-10228","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-champions-league","11":"tag-danilo","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-featured-news","14":"tag-featurednews","15":"tag-headlines","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-james-tavernier","19":"tag-latest-news","20":"tag-latestnews","21":"tag-main-news","22":"tag-mainnews","23":"tag-news","24":"tag-rangers-fc","25":"tag-russell-martin","26":"tag-scottish-premiership","27":"tag-top-stories","28":"tag-topstories","29":"tag-transfer-talk"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}