{"id":412552,"date":"2025-09-10T07:22:39","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T07:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/412552\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T07:22:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T07:22:39","slug":"nico-raskin-rangers-rift-is-massive-test-for-russell-martin-but-here-is-how-he-should-handle-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/412552\/","title":{"rendered":"Nico Raskin Rangers rift is massive test for Russell Martin but here is how he should handle it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Midfielder has offered an olive branch – and Rangers need him back in the side and firing.<\/p>\n

12:46, 09 Sep 2025Updated 19:38, 09 Sep 2025<\/p>\n

\"RussellRussell Martin and Nico Raskin at Rangers<\/p>\n

One of Russell Martin\u2019s biggest tests as Rangers<\/a> manager lies ahead in the coming days.<\/p>\n

Not Saturday\u2019s clash with Hearts – although that Ibrox showdown with Derek McInnes\u2019 joint league leaders is clearly a monster examination of where Martin\u2019<\/a>s side are heading.<\/p>\n

But that will have to wait for now. Because to have the best chance of turning his misfiring start in the Gers dugout round in the must-win clash with the Jambos Martin needs to first down and sort out the rift with his star man.<\/p>\n

The player who can make Rangers tick more than any other available to the under-fire manager right now – Nicolas Raskin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The delicacy of the situation which saw the midfielder bombed out of the squad ahead of last month\u2019s Old Firm might well call for diplomacy of international relations proportions.<\/p>\n

But one look at the 24-year-old\u2019s impact in Europe this week shows the urgency of the situation facing Martin and Rangers.<\/p>\n

More specifically one glance at Belgium\u2019s midfield five that hit Kazakhstan for six on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

\"NicoNico Raskin pokes home his first goal for Belgium<\/p>\n

Raskin, at number six, playing alongside Youri Tielemans and behind Kevin DeBruyne flanked by Jeremy Doku and Leandro Trossard.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an elite middle third in which Rudi Garcia was more than happy to trust Raskin to take his place. And that is the level the player now believes he belongs.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why – for all his opinions and questioning of what he\u2019s being asked to do by a manager – Martin should be trying to embrace the quality at the same time as keeping the player\u2019s ego in check.<\/p>\n

It would almost be criminal to allow Raskin to head off for a week and mix with that company but not offer his views on his return.<\/p>\n

You hear managers talk about it all the time, how players will only get better from spending time on the international stage rubbing shoulders with the best.<\/p>\n

And it doesn\u2019t get much better than that Red Devils\u2019 midfield. If you\u2019re talking about egos there\u2019s one of the biggest right there in DeBruyne.<\/p>\n

Football dressing rooms across the planet – and at all levels – are rammed with cock-sure characters. This is nothing new.<\/p>\n

The best players back themselves and regularly throw out their opinions behind closed doors. But it\u2019s also why managers need to be the strongest of all those individuals.<\/p>\n

Walter Smith<\/a> certainly dealt with more than a few in his two spells as boss at Ibrox. And it did his record no harm.<\/p>\n

This is all in danger of getting seriously out of hand with Raskin. That\u2019s why Martin must act fast – if he hasn\u2019t already – to draw a line, get his midfield general back on board and move forward with the Belgian at the heart of his side to face Hearts.<\/p>\n

Taking the player\u2019s comments on international duty this week at face value then it appears he is determined to resolve what he referred to as a \u201ccomplicated\u201d issue.<\/p>\n

Barry Ferguson – who knows the player as well as anyone after his spell in interim charge – said it best himself in his recent Record Sport<\/strong> column<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Raskin is fiery and opinionated. But he loved that because it gave him the chance to sit down and tell the player exactly what he wanted from him.<\/p>\n

\"Rangers'Rangers’ Nicolas Raskin (L) and Interim Head Coach Barry Ferguson (Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s the rub – opinionated players only become a real problem if you don\u2019t have the answers to the questions they are asking. Martin now has to sit down with the player and prove he has those.<\/p>\n

Where to start? Probably right there – where he starts.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no stretch to say Raskin is the best player Martin has at his disposal.<\/p>\n

He should be looking to make him the first midfield name on the team sheet – then build the rest of the engine room round him.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a case of horses for courses or rotating the squad for freshness with Raskin because he\u2019s a player who has proved he can do the lot in the middle – and has the energy in his legs to do it repeatedly.<\/p>\n

Then it\u2019s down to the player. If he really is determined to thrash out his future and play his part in turning Rangers\u2019 season round then he needs to accept what the manager wants from him.<\/p>\n

If Belgium already have one foot in next summer\u2019s World Cup then Raskin surely already has one eye on being part of Garcia\u2019s squad that will head across the Atlantic capable of going deep in the competition.<\/p>\n

But, as always, it all starts at home. With the club that pays the wages.<\/p>\n

Get back to the consistency and level he was showing in the second half of last season and everyone should be happy.<\/p>\n

The senior pros have a part to play as well, starting with skipper James Tavernier and the likes of Jack Butland, to ensure the Belgian doesn\u2019t get too big for his boots.<\/p>\n

Rangers simply have too much to lose if this rift can\u2019t be repaired.<\/p>\n

Rangers manager Russell Martin talks to Nicolas Raskin <\/p>\n

Raskin is at an age where his best years are still to come and he\u2019s already a regular in that star-studded Belgian side.<\/p>\n

With two years left on his contract then next summer – when he\u2019ll be 25 – looks like the prime time to cash in.<\/p>\n

Get back to his best with Rangers, ensure he\u2019s in the Belgium squad that should be heading to the World Cup and then he\u2019s in a shop window that could even see him go down as one of Rangers\u2019 record sales.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s much work on and off the park to be done before then. Make no mistake, the Raskin issue is a massive test of Martin’s management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Midfielder has offered an olive branch – and Rangers need him back in the side and firing. 12:46,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[1634,748,1102,4884,40765,1946,37715,28104,712,10107,16,15,141804],"class_list":{"0":"post-412552","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-barry-ferguson","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-edinburgh","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-nicolas-raskin","13":"tag-rangers-fc","14":"tag-rangers-fc-transfer-news","15":"tag-russell-martin","16":"tag-scotland","17":"tag-transfer-talk","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-walter-smith"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115178802077660219","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}