Rangers hero warns over what's to come despite optimism

The National

6 days ago

Russell Martin is in the door and trying to implement his style but it has been evident from the games so far he will need more time to get his players to perfect that.
The team will once again have a new look personnel wise with the manager looking to do more business after bringing in seven to date - Joe Rothwell, Djeidi Gassama, Thelo Aasgaard, Emmanuel Fernandez, Max Aarons, Nasser Djiga and Lyall Cameron - although the latter was already signed on a pre-contract.
A win over Panathinaikos in Champions League qualifying was an encouraging start but it was an incomplete performance as the squad continues to gel and get used to the manager's way of playing.
That all suggests it is going to be a work in progress. However, Boyd is not ruling out a title challenge in the first season.
Asked if his old club could be genuine title contenders, he said: "They can be. If you go back to last season, there's going to be a lot of change. Celtic weren't a problem for [[Rangers]] last season. They took seven points, [[Celtic]] took four points.
"Rangers' problem was against everybody else. Whether that is another problem that Russell Martin is going to have to solve as well, is it that you can get yourselves up for big games?
"Europe wasn't a problem for a lot of the guys either. But going to smaller grounds or having to break down defences at Ibrox was a problem for [[Rangers]].
"They have to problem-solve that and start getting results on a regular basis. Beating the rest, see where that takes you. In this country we always look at winning the Old Firms and you win the league.
"Last season proved that's the biggest load of nonsense ever. You've got to win the games against the rest and see where that takes you."
All that said, Boyd concedes there could be a sticky period for the Ibrox club, their new manager and the fans.
With the expansive style Martin wants to play, there is always the risk of giving up opportunities to the opposition. That is especially the case when you are in the early stages of your progression as a team.
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So, despite the former goalscorer's earlier prediction, he has warned supporters there will be times where they're left puzzled over what the new boss is trying to do.
"You always run the risk," he pointed out. "We still see Manchester City, the best teams in the world, give away opportunities playing that way.
"If you want to implement that style, there is going to be risk attached to it. Russell Martin thinks the reward outweighs the risk. We can't argue with him right now because he's only in the door. There were opportunities at Panathinaikos last week, but Rangers won the game 2-0.
"There will be moments where I imagine every Rangers fan is probably sitting with their head in their hands thinking, 'What are we doing here?'
"The reality is that is the coach Russell Martin is. There's going to be some moments along the way. If you look at any coach that's tried to implement that style, it does take time.
"We're all in agreement that in Glasgow you don't get time, and if it does go pear-shaped early doors, he's going to be under pressure. There's no getting away from it.
"Even if it was Walter Smith or whoever was in charge of Rangers, if you're out of Europe and you're points behind Celtic after the opening stage of the season, you're going to be under pressure."
In previous seasons, Rangers have started slowly and left themselves playing catch up almost from the outset.
With the early fixtures they have, Boyd senses a chance to get off to a good start this time. He sees it as imperative.
The pundit added: "It's vitally important because you don't want to be playing catch up straight away. The two previous seasons... start negative and everybody's on your case. All of a sudden it becomes must-win games.
"At Rangers you're under pressure every single game, but if you've got off to a bad start and haven't won the previous week, the pressure is more intensified and you are under severe pressure to win those games.
"Rangers, looking at it, the games they've got give them a good opportunity to get off to a good start. They've got to look at that with the first Old Firm game at home as well. You've got to be looking to get into that with an opportunity to move ahead of Celtic.
"In previous seasons, going into that first Old Firm game, Rangers have probably been having to beat Celtic to get back level or to keep in touch with them.
"This season gives them an opportunity to get off to a good start with the fixtures they've got. No disrespect to the teams that they're going to face, but you expect Rangers to win those games going into that Old Firm game."