Super Eagles and Rangers centre-forward Cyriel Dessers has urged fans of the club to support their coach Russell Martin after a poor domestic start, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Scottish manager was fired from Southampton last December, and the Saints hired Ivan Juric, who couldn’t do much to prevent them from demotion to the EFL Championship.
Rangers appointed Martin in July, and while they’ve been doing well in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, the Gers are yet to win domestically, putting up poor performances.
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Dessers urges fans to support Russell Martin
Following Rangers’ 1-1 draw against Dundee, Dessers urged the fans to rally around their new gaffer in support.
“We’re all in this together. The team, the club, the fans — and we need each other,” the Super Eagles star said in quotes revealed by the Daily Mail.
“It maybe sounds weird, but we need the fans to give us, maybe not the patience or the time, but to help us when we give a difficult pass, or we try to dribble, or we try a shot.
“To encourage that and appreciate that, because we do it with a goal (in mind), but, yeah, it’s also nice for us on a night like we had (against Plzen) during the week to give something back to these fans, give a good performance, give a good win.
“This is the only way that this can grow again. Ibrox was rocking (against Plzen). It’s unbelievable — and we need to go to that place as well in the ‘league games. To have Ibrox rocking as well.”
Quizzed if the former Southampton manager is capable of mounting a challenge against Celtic in the league, Dessers said;
“I’m very convinced, because I see him in the building every time, how he is on the pitch, how he is in the video meetings.
“He tries to transfer that to us as a group as well. Obviously, that cannot happen in one week, but I think we’ve already seen some flashes of that — for example, against Plzen, but you want to see that twice a week.”
The Belgium-born Nigerian also conceded that all of the blame shouldn’t land on the coach, as the players need to show greater courage on the field.
“If you’re talking about percentages, I think it’s only about five or six or seven per cent, just a little bit more aggressive, a little bit more at it, sometimes just having the courage to play the difficult ball instead of the same ball again.”
“So it is in the team, but we have to be more consistent and also do it from the beginning of the game.
“There’s no time at this club. Not a lot of patience, which everybody knows when they play here, and that’s okay, that’s fine.
“We’re fine with that, but somewhere inside yourself, you need to find that confidence and the courage to make the pass, make the dribble, try the shot, and just create something for the team.”
Rangers secured a 3-0 win over Czech side, Viktoria Plzen, in the UEFA Champions League qualifier last week. The return leg will be played on Tuesday at the Doosan Arena.