John Souttar has leapt to the defence of Rangers boss Russell Martin – insisting that it’s unfair for the under-fire manager to take all the heat from furious supporters.
Souttar captained Rangers during a shambolic display against Club Brugge at Ibrox on Tuesday night as they fell to a 3-1 defeat in the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie.
Brugge led 3-0 after just 20 minutes as Rangers capitulated, with a large section of the crowd turning on Martin and calling for him to be sacked barely six weeks into the job.
Souttar accepts the anger from supporters, but believes the players were also culpable and must shoulder their share of responsibility as well as the manager.
‘Of course it’s difficult (to hear the criticism), but when you are here at Rangers and 3-0 down, you have to expect it,’ said Souttar. ‘Everyone knows the demands and the demands were to win and go through in the tie.
‘We still have next week obviously, but the way we started, we put pressure on ourselves. The first two goals especially were poor, so we have to look back on that and next week we need to start better.
Rangers manager Russell Martin speaks to his skipper John Souttar during Tuesday’s play-off
Rangers were booed off the pitch after their 3-1 defeat to Brugge on Tuesday night
Russell Martin has endured a difficult start to his career as Rangers manager
‘Look, I think it’s unfair for him (Martin) to take the flak. I think we all have to take it. It’s not just the manager, I think we are all due it.
‘Everyone at this club who wants to play here has to understand that when things are not going well and the demands are not met then you are going to take the flak. You need to accept that.’
Souttar fronted up as captain, but his performance left a lot to be desired. He showed no leadership or communication skills during that early Brugge onslaught.
‘First half, I think we actually shot ourselves in the foot with how we started,’ he continued. ‘When you give away the goals we did that makes any game difficult.
‘Especially a game like that when there is so much at stake and we are playing against a team of that quality. Second half we were a bit better and made them a bit more uncomfortable but first half I thought the damage was done.
‘I think that’s going to put anyone off (some fans left early). You can plan for anything, but you can’t plan for losing two goals like that.
‘Especially on an occasion like that and it’s up to us to react. We did a bit in the second half and got the goal back and now we’ve got to go over there and see what happens.’
The tie is as good as over ahead of next week’s second leg in Belgium, but Souttar is determined that Rangers at least go and give it their best shot.
‘Of course we have to cling on to that, we have to cling on to something,’ he added. ‘The way we played second half we were on the front foot and obviously it’s easier when you have nothing to lose.
‘We wanted to start like that but when you lose two goals like that it naturally derails everything. It’s going to derail any game plan, so second half we were a bit better and when we go over there next week we’ve got to play like that.
‘I thought we brought all the pressure on ourselves by conceding those two goals in the manner we did. That brings pressure on yourself and makes everything harder so we have to go over there and we have to be on the front foot.
‘We can’t afford to give goals away the way we did and we need to implement our game plan on them instead of giving them the start we did.
‘Look, there is still the belief because we have had big results away from home in Europe in the last few years so there is that belief. But there is no point saying that, we need to go and show it.’
