Although Russell Martin played down the decision to drop James Tavernier and Nico Raskin ahead of last night’s comfortable 3-0 win over Viktoria Plzen, actions speak louder than words.
“It won’t look perfect in terms of football, it needs to in terms of attitude and mentality,” Martin said when discussing what needed to change from the weekend pre-match. What followed was a commanding victory, with more goals from Djeidi Gassama and a Cyriel Dessers penalty.
Raskin and Tavernier were among the main culprits in the disappointing 1-1 draw with Motherwell to kick-off the league season. According to Martin, they, and others, were not on the same page, contributing to a performance that was disjointed and disconnected. Rehearsed moments became unnecessarily spontaneous. That’s why, instead of defending his approach after the match, Martin went on the offensive, because in his view, his ideas were not being executed.
The message behind dropping the team captain and last season’s standout player was clear: individualism is no longer acceptable. Short-term thinking won’t work. The system is stronger when it sacrifices a bit of individual quality for full team buy-in, allowing others to thrive within a coherent structure.
And as last night demonstrated, when Martin’s football philosophy clicks, it can be highly efficient. Rangers’ third goal was a rapid, end-to-end move, composed build-up through midfield, explosive transitions, and intelligent final-third movement. But it’s also, to some extent, a house of cards. One lazy run can unravel a press. One selfish decision can ruin a promising move.
The difference last night was embodied by two of the four players who replaced Kieran Dowell, Danilo, Raskin, and Tavernier, namely Lyall Cameron and Oliver Antman. All three goals felt like a response to what Martin had asked for just days earlier: stick to the plan.
“I feel like they've really bought into what we're asking them to do,” Martin said post-match. “Tonight, hopefully, they saw enough to really convince them that it’s worthwhile, that it can help us win a lot, and I think it will.”
This doesn’t mean Martin is a puppeteer on the sideline, orchestrating every move. Rather, his philosophy relies on control, with large parts of the tactical setup dependent on adherence to patterns and structures, building through pressure and creating space for quality to shine.
The first goal was a prime example of that philosophy, with a structure enabling individual talent, not restricting it.
Cameron, excellent on his full debut after joining from Dundee, made exactly the kind of run Martin wanted to see on Saturday, when he instead criticised “selfish” decision-making in the final third. It was the polar opposite of the “self-preservation” that Martin lamented after the [[Motherwell]] game.
In the GIF, note the details: Jefte, on his natural left foot, opens up the pitch and hits Gassama in his stride, a pass that would’ve been far harder for the right-footed Aarons. Gassama’s individualism is decisive, but it’s the right kind, the right player, in the right moment, in the right area. And it’s created by Cameron’s unselfish off-ball movement, which opens the passing lane. He doesn’t touch the ball, but makes the goal possible by fashioning the space it's scored within.
It was telling that when asked about Cameron post-match, Martin’s first comment was, “He did exactly what we asked him to do.”
Although the second goal was more spontaneous, it was still an upgrade from the weekend when Martin suggested some were running only when they wanted to. Antman’s tireless work regained possession, and he and Gassama turned defence into attack in seconds, a dynamic Rangers have lacked for years.
Antman with the running 🏃
— The Rangers Review (@RangersReview55) August 5, 2025
Dessers with the finish 🎯
pic.twitter.com/7KOTlYDwMR
Antman wasn’t done. Soon after the restart, he finished off a superb team goal, the kind of assist he regularly produced at Go Ahead Eagles: spinning in behind, reaching the byline, not seeking a goal but creating one. That detail in and of itself - a player more prone to create than score - feels an important detail in response to Martin's claims of selfishness last week.
As the head coach explained in his press conference, Antman was quick to absorb instructions like Cameron, particularly at half-time having only signed for the club on Monday.
“We’re trying to learn all the time,” Martin said. “At half-time, we showed him a few things. Gilly (assistant coach) and Ewan (analyst) sat down with Ollie. It was his first game, he’d had a long 48 hours, a long medical, and a lot of video and info on the pitch yesterday. In the first half, he wanted a lot of touches, which is understandable. In the second half, though, he was devastating with so many runs in behind, because Gilly showed him.”
These are the small details that turn build-up play from boring to brilliant. They also explain why [[Rangers]] are willing to take risks at the back. Notice below in the lead-up to the third goal how Jack Butland finds Max Aarons, the free man, and both full-backs move inside. [[Jefte]]’s perfectly timed run allows [[Rangers]] to reach the final third with control and space to attack, the precise reward for earlier risk.
It shouldn’t go unnoticed that both John Souttar and Nasser Djiga, especially the latter, who often played with the composure of a midfielder, were excellent.
From there, Antman can spin in behind and connect with his fellow winger. His movement stretches the opposition, creating pockets for others to exploit. It was the type of run so obviously missing against Panathanaikos and Motherwell.
For too long, Rangers have relied on individual brilliance as a fallback. Without a cohesive tactical plan, Tavernier’s goals and Raskin’s running became the go-to solutions.
But it was telling, during pre-season at St. George’s Park, that Martin said the following about Raskin: “I think less is probably more with Nico. We can get more out of him, more end product, by doing a bit less. He doesn’t have to make the game up now.”
That, in a nutshell, is Martin’s philosophy. Players perform at their best, and elevate teammates by sticking to the plan and trusting the structure.
"It was the most put-together performance we've had for sure, with the ball and without," Martin admitted. The reaction to losing the ball was great. With the ball, we moved it much quicker, shorter distance, found the spare man a lot, and had way more runs in behind than what we've had in the last few games. We are going to get much better than that."
With one foot now in the Champions League play-off round, last night was the first real signs that said belief may pay off.
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