Rangers’ start to the season has been poor, with two league draws surrounding an advance to the UEFA Champions League playoff round. European results had been positive, but the performances far less convincing.
A home win and an away draw saw Russell Martin’s men edge past Greek giants Panathinaikos in the second qualifying round, securing Europa League group-stage football at worst.
But let’s be honest, against a side with more clinical finishing, we’d have been drubbed by four or five.
We laboured to a draw away at Motherwell, taking the lead at Fir Park before completely taking our foot off the gas. In the end, we were fortunate to escape with a point on the opening day.
The best of Martin’s side was finally seen in a fantastic 3-0 home win over Viktoria Plzen of Czechia. Yet it proved to be a false dawn.
That high was followed by an embarrassing 1-1 home draw with relegation favourites Dundee, salvaged only by a last-minute James Tavernier penalty after the visitors had gone down to ten men.
A defeat in Plzen and a 4-2 win over Alloa did little to lift the mood, and Tuesday evening’s horror show, a 3-1 defeat at home to Brugge, was the breaking point for many supporters already questioning Martin’s competency.
Three-nil down inside 20 minutes, with each goal a calamity of our own making, boos rang around Ibrox as fans streamed out, clearly fed up with the lack of grit and determination.
Danilo pulled one back, but in truth only two players could leave Ibrox with their heads held high: young full-back Jayden Meghoma, signed just 24 hours earlier, and Djeidi Gassama, another new arrival who kept going for the full 90 minutes, trying desperately to spark life into a side full of experienced players hiding in plain sight.
A draw in Paisley mere escalated matters.
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In July, Martin spoke proudly of his four key lieutenants in the dressing room, praising his supposed leadership group. But have any of them actually shown the required qualities so far?
He named Jack Butland among them, and while the former England international has pulled off some huge saves, especially against Panathinaikos, and has looked an improvement on the version that was dropped by interim boss Barry Ferguson for understudy Liam Kelly last season, Tuesday showed exactly why he cannot be the long-term solution at Ibrox, nor fit Martin’s style of play.
Just three minutes in against Brugge, after some early pressure of our own, one long ball exposed us. Butland started to come out of his box, but when Nasser Djiga and John Souttar backed off, he hesitated, retreated, and was chipped by Romeo Vermant into an empty net.
He is a confidence player, something a goalkeeper at this level simply cannot be. His hesitancy cost us and exposed a lack of leadership.
A true Rangers goalkeeper takes control, commands his box, leaves it when needed and clears his lines, and imposes himself.
The fear now is that this mistake eats away at him, spreading fresh nerves across a back line already looking fragile.
Also at fault was another of Martin’s so-called leaders, Scottish centre-half Souttar.
Too often, Souttar plays like a man unsure of his own ability. He has the physique, the aerial strength, and the experience, but when Rangers are under pressure he retreats into his shell.
His positioning for Brugge’s second was nothing short of amateur, caught flat-footed, too slow to get to the ball, abandoning any responsibility for the situation. It summed up a defender who reacts to danger rather than anticipates it.
At 28, Souttar is no longer the developing prospect who can be excused for lapses. He is supposed to be in his prime, but right now he looks more like a liability than a leader.
Injuries have blighted his career, yes, but leadership is about mentality as much as ability, and on Tuesday night he showed neither.
He seems unable to adapt to his new role on the left hand side of defence, his passing his cost us already, and a leader cannot be the root cause of errors within a side like he is. We need a confident, composed defender who can play out, Souttar is not this and his apprehensive play is spreading across the backline, and through the side.
The most surprising member of the group mentioned by the former Southampton boss was Kieran Dowell.
The most surprising member of the group mentioned by the former Southampton boss was Kieran Dowell. A player whose Rangers career has barely got off the ground, who was rightly shipped out last January on loan by Phillipe Clement, and yet Martin saw fit to elevate him into this supposed core of dressing-room leaders.
It was a baffling call at the time, and two months into the season it looks even more questionable.
Dowell has some talent, that much is clear from his spells with Norwich and his loan to Birmingham, he has a good eye for a pass when given time.
But at Rangers, time on the ball is a luxury that does not exist, and Dowell has yet to show he can cope with the pace or intensity demanded by Martin’s style.
His outings so far have been defined by anonymity, drifting through games without impact, offering neither defensive solidity nor attacking drive, a man down in most cases, but worryingly he seems to be ahead of the likes of Nedim Bajrami in the pecking order.
For a “leader,” he is worryingly passive. When Rangers are struggling, you need midfielders who demand the ball, dictate tempo, and set the tone with energy and urgency.
Dowell, instead, looks like a man hiding in plain sight, content to play safe five-yard passes while the game rages on around him, or hiding behind opposition players instead of moving for a pass when we’re needing to find space against packed defences.
Rangers have had plenty of technically tidy midfielders over the years, but leadership at Ibrox demands more than tidy, it demands presence, character, and the willingness to grab a game by the scruff of the neck.
And finally, there is James Tavernier. The much-criticised captain is not the player he once was, but so far this season he remains one of the only men to drag us through.
Without his 2 league goals, we would be sitting on 0 points from 6 instead of the already costly 2.
While his lack of vocal presence as captain continues to frustrate, he is still delivering when others hide. Even at 33, Tavernier remains the go-to man in this side.
But it cannot last forever. He is on the decline, his pace is waning, and he no longer dominates the right flank the way he once did.
What’s more worrying is that the club still haven’t managed to find an adequate successor. Max Aarons, brought in to eventually take over the armband and the role, has looked underwhelming. If Tavernier falters, there is no one ready to step in at the same level of the skipper.
And that is the heart of the problem with Russell Martin’s so-called leadership group. Butland is too fragile, Souttar too hesitant, Dowell too passive, and Tavernier past his prime.
Nico Raskin was appointed vice-captain last year under Ferguson but does not receive the armband in the absence of Tav this year, despite clearly being the biggest on-field leader and driving force within the squad.
Instead of four pillars to build around, Martin has placed his trust in a shaky foundation that is already creaking under the pressure. Unless new leaders emerge from elsewhere in the squad, this season threatens to unravel before it has even properly begun.