IAN Durrant believes that Russell Martin needs to hold on to Nico Raskin and build his new-look Rangers team around the Belgian midfielder and his new signing Joe Rothwell if he is to make an immediate impact at Ibrox.
Durrant, who won the Scottish title on six occasions during his time as a player at his boyhood heroes in the 1980s and 1990s, is optimistic that former MK Dons, Swansea City and Southampton manager Martin can do well at the Glasgow club.
He and his fellow Light Blues greats John Brown and Lee McCulloch had lunch with the ex-Scotland internationalist after training at Auchenhowie at the weekend and they were all encouraged to hear his plans for the future.
The Hall of Fame member, too, was impressed with [[Rangers]]’ performance in their hard-fought 2-0 triumph over Panathinaikos in their Champions League second qualifying round match at Ibrox on Tuesday evening.
Read more:
-
So do Russell Martin and his new recruits have what it takes to succeed at Rangers?
-
Rangers manager on Sir Alex Ferguson dressing room words of wisdom to Findlay Curtis
However, Durrant feels it is imperative that Martin, who has signed no fewer than eight new players since being named as Philippe Clement’s permanent replacement last month, retains the services of Raskin going forward.
He was struck by how well the Belgium internationalist dovetailed with Joe Rothwell, the experience English midfielder who was signed from Bournemouth for £400,000 at the start of this month, against the Greek visitors and feels they can form a good partnership in the middle of the park during the 2025/26 campaign.
Asked if it was important for the new manager not to lose prized asset Raskin, he said, “Of course, he'll outline that. He wants his best players here, but sometimes money talks. I hope it doesn't, but that's the nature of the beast.
“But he'll want to keep him, because you can see he's wanting to get Raskin and Joe Rothwell together. The more they play, the better they'll get.”
“It was nice,” he said. “I’ve been doing a wee bit of work with the club and they invited us over. He was just bouncing a few things off us, asking us what we think. We told him, ‘You just need to win’.
“That's the be all and end all. Get the proper players, get your recruitment right. He was good. He spoke very well. He outlined the way he wants to go. So you've just got to go and back him. He's certainly got the backing of the club now with the new regime coming in.
Read more:
“There will be tough games, especially the Champions League qualifiers. You've got the second leg now. Financially, that could do a lot for the club. It's come at an early time, but he's working every day.
“He spoke to us about the fitness levels of the team. It looked like the second half on Tuesday that he's worked them really hard. He had a great week down at St George's. He's got all his players back.
“He's hopefully got a couple more players now. Hamza Igamane and Cyriel Dessers missed a fair chunk of pre-season. They're a wee bit behind, but they'll get game time on Saturday.
“He wants his team so fit. He said that the way he plays, it might take the last 10 to 15 minutes to break teams down, but the only way they're going to break them down is if they are fitter than the other teams.”Light Blues legend Ian Durrant was speaking as he promoted RYDC’s Big Blue Jackpot, a new Rangers Lotto prize for supporters who can win guaranteed end-of-month jackpots of at least £12,000 and £15,000 from August. Full details at www.rydc.co.uk
