RUSSELL MARTIN demanded his Rangers players lose their ego.
But Billy Dodds reckons that’s something they need MORE of in the Ibrox dressing room.
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Martin let rip after the 1-1 draw with Motherwell at Fir Park, also slamming the self-preservation mentality from certain men.
He then benched skipper James Tavernier and Nico Raskin for the Champions League qualifier first-leg with Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday night.
But Doddsy – coach to Barry Ferguson during his caretaker boss stint last season – believes ego is one of the things Martin’s squad lacks.
He said: “Do you know what, there were some players harder to handle that others.
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“But there’s one thing that was missing at Rangers, and it was egos.
“Because I think when you have egos, domestically, it looks after itself.
“I think you go, ‘I’m a good player, we win this game consistently.’
“That’s what they actually needed.
“I think a lot of them need more ego.
“And yeah, you get different types of egos, different sizes.
“You get small egos, you get big egos.
“I think they need more big ego.
“Because that will help them consistently, domestically.
“And I think that’s the thing that was missing.”
“Look at Celtic the weekend.
“Celtic weren’t at their best against St Mirren but they won the game.
“That’s the thing I think, when I was in there, was missing.
“But they are a great group of boys.
“They probably just lacked being that wee bit of determination to win games when they weren’t playing well.”
Dodds is a huge fan of Tavernier and Raskin and insists they’ll battle back into Martin’s starting line-up.
He added: “You don’t have to tell me how good pros Nico and Tav are.
“I think they’ll come back stronger.
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“Because they’ll be dogged and determined to show they want in this team and I want to be part of it.
“They’ll be hurting. But that’s what good pros do. They hurt and then they show you.
“That’s the way it should be.
“It went well for Russell because they won.
“But it was brave, I’ll say that.
“When it goes for you it looks like an expert decision.
“With Nico, he’s a very good kid.
“He’s got a good heart.
“The way I would put it is, ‘Nico needs some convincing.’
“But he’s great. I think we had him playing some of his best football last season because he was adding goals and he realised he’s an all-rounder.
“I’ve spoken about it before.
“He wanted to be a six. He get it, he can play as a six.
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“Nobody’s arguing with that. That’s what we told him. He can play as a six, he’s decent there.
“But he’s better as an all-rounder.
“The Belgian manager played him as a six and that was what was in his head.
“But he’s also got to realise that if you score goals as an all-rounder then there’s more money in it and bigger moves for him.
“I’m not saying he should leave Rangers but when it comes in the right time, he moves for bigger money.
“That’s what was put to him.
“And then suddenly he starts scoring goals for that energetic position and then he believes in it, funny enough.
“I had that before with Jackson Irvine, exact same.”
Rangers were terrific against Plzen to win 3-0 but Dodds insists they must maintain their standards against Dundee at Ibrox on Saturday.
He added: “I think Tuesday night looks after itself.
“When it’s Europe it’s no bother.
“It was no surprise to me they went and blew Plzen away.
“I don’t think Plzen were great, don’t get me wrong.
“But you can only beat what’s put in front of you.
“Now they’ve got to handle that it’s Dundee, sitting deep. They’ll be trying to make it hard for them to get a point on the board themselves.
“And that’s the kind of games that Rangers came unstuck last season.
“But I think if they play the way they did last night, with that energy, and they make sure that they’re causing Dundee problems by making darting runs, then that’ll help Rangers.
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“I think the game, if they play the way they did last night, will look after itself. And that’s a good reaction to dropping points against Motherwell.”
Doddsy reckons the arrival of £3m Finn Oliver Antman has been huge for Rangers.
He added: “We had Vac Cerny last season and it’s no disrespect to Kieran Dowell, but he’s a midfielder who was asked to play a winger.
“So that’s what you’re missing out on.
“That’s nothing on Dowell, that’s just what was missing.
“Motherwell were great last week, don’t get me wrong.
“I thought they played really well and probably deserved to win it.
“But when you miss players like Vaclac, it shows.
“They had it on Tuesday with Antman and it shows what they can do to teams.
“Then it’s no surprise that Rangers won the way they did on Tuesday night. And it showed you what was missing against Motherwell
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“So those type of players with that explosive pace are so important.”
“Billy Dodds was promoting the Premier Sports’ live and exclusive coverage of Rangers v Dundee on Saturday from 12pm on Premier Sports 1. Fans can watch an entire season of football for only £99 using promo code PSCUP25.”
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