{"id":9421,"date":"2025-07-20T01:56:21","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T01:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/9421\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T01:56:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T01:56:21","slug":"russell-martin-must-be-rangers-history-maker-in-his-first-game-in-charge-as-one-thing-is-clear-about-ibrox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/9421\/","title":{"rendered":"Russell Martin must be Rangers history maker in his first game in charge as one thing is clear about Ibrox"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a tough start to competitive life at Ibrox for Martin but Kirk Broadfoot insists he simply must deliver a win on Tuesday or the Champions League dream will be as good as over.<\/p>\n

22:30, 19 Jul 2025Updated 22:32, 19 Jul 2025<\/p>\n

\"Rangers(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n

Kirk Broadfoot reckons Russell Martin will have to make Scottish football history in his first game as Rangers boss if his side are to keep their Champions League<\/a> dream alive.<\/p>\n

Panathinaikos visit Ibrox on Tuesday night for the first leg of the second qualifying round tie – and they have never lost to a Scottish team in seven previous encounters.<\/p>\n

But Broadfoot<\/a> believes to have any chance of getting through the qualifier Martin\u2019s new-look outfit must hit the ground running and beat Rui Vitoria\u2019s Greeks in Govan ahead of the return leg in Athens eight days later.<\/p>\n

Three previous meetings between the teams have ended in draws while Panathinaikos won at Ibrox in 2003. They\u2019ve also dumped Aberdeen in 2007 and Motherwell home and away in 2012.<\/p>\n

The winners over the next 10 days will still face two more rounds of qualifying to hit the \u00a340m \u2018league phase\u2019 jackpot.<\/p>\n

And former Ibrox defender Broadfoot, who was part of the Gers side that drew home and away in the last meeting with Pana in 2008, <\/a>said: \u201cI think it’s a 50-50 if I’m being honest. Tuesday\u2019s game at Ibrox is going to be massive. If Rangers can come away with a result at Ibrox – maybe a 1-0 or 2-0 win – then I\u2019d fancy them.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think they need to be leading when they go to Athens. If they\u2019re going over there level, I think it’s going to be hard. Especially as it’s going to be a new defence. They\u2019ll have no time to click. The manager has a style he likes to play but will he go with it in Athens?<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately the fans don’t care about that. They just want results and they will be judged on this game even though it is really early.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin<\/a> is adamant his side, which could include up to seven new signings, will be ready for the test that awaits them on Tuesday evening. Broadfoot hopes the former Scotland defender is right.<\/p>\n

\"RangersRangers players Barry Ferguson (right) with Kirk Broadfoot (Image: PA)<\/p>\n

But he also knows the shock that lies in wait for the light blues new boys when they first encounter the wait of expectation on their shoulders. He said: \u201cI think unless you’re Scottish and you know what it’s about.. even then it takes time to adjust.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven me being a Rangers<\/a> fan, signing with Rangers, I didn’t know what was happening with the pressures and how drawing a game was the end of the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn’t used to that. These guys will never feel anything like this at any other club. They need to learn fast that nothing but winning at Rangers counts. It\u2019s the same at Celtic.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes guys just can’t adapt and that’s the problem and the pressure that comes with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately you don’t get a year to settle in. You’ve got to hit the ground running or they’ll make their mind up and then they’re on you.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys like James Tavernier will be trying to get that through to them. I was lucky when I went. There was big characters like Barry Ferguson and David Weir, then we signed guys like Lee McCulloch and Kris Boyd who I travelled with.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these guys helped you along and they brought a good core in. The Scottish boys, Kevin Thompson, Steven Whittaker, Stephen Naismith, who all knew what it was about.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was lucky to get into a squad like that. The mentality was second to none.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s a tough start to competitive life at Ibrox for Martin but Kirk Broadfoot insists he simply must…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,568,9582,9323,9329,561,82],"class_list":["post-9421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-champions-league","tag-kirk-broadfoot","tag-rangers-fc","tag-russell-martin","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}