RUSSELL MARTIN and Nico Raskin will never be best mates.
It’s hard to imagine the Rangers boss inviting the Belgian out for dinner any time soon.
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But a personal friendship is irrelevant when it comes to Martin and Raskin. All that matters is that they can put their differences aside for the benefit of Rangers.
Finally, after weeks of issues, Raskin has been taken off the naughty step by Martin.
That won’t solve all the Rangers manager’s problems ahead of the League Cup clash with Hibs. But Raskin’s presence in the squad gives Martin a better chance of saving his job.
Andrew Cavenagh is in town for the Ibrox cup tie and will probably get a shock when he sees the level of anger among the support.
There are anti-Martin protests planned outside before kick-off and you can bet the chants will continue inside the stadium.
US-based Cavenagh is walking into a storm and it would have been even worse had Raskin been sitting next to him in the directors’ box.
Yes, the little Belgian has a reputation for being mouthy and difficult to manage, which is clearly why he’s been banished recently.
Don’t also rule out the possibility that Martin doesn’t really fancy him as a player. It is often forgotten that previous bosses — like his compatriot Philippe Clement — didn’t always start Raskin.
But he is currently Rangers’ best midfielder and arguably their biggest asset.
Whatever has happened between him and Martin since the start of the season, they have to find a way of working together.
The best managers I played under had more faces than Big Ben.
They would know what to say and how to get the best out of players — even if they weren’t your biggest fan.
Raskin is here until January at least and he can help Rangers win games — which is all that matters. If I was Martin, I would be holding next summer’s World Cup up as motivation for the midfielder.
You want to be in that Belgium squad? Well, you better start doing the business for Rangers.
Raskin has admitted that making the World Cup would be the pinnacle of his career, so Martin should be tapping into that.
But however he approaches this situation, the outcome is clear.
Raskin has to get back to his best for Rangers.
Martin confirmed the midfielder’s place in the squad as he spoke about his continued backing from the Ibrox hierarchy. He was glowing in his praise of chief executive Patrick Stewart as he also gets set to face the protests.
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But a word of warning here, Russell.
Stewart was the man who publicly backed Clement — and then sacked him a week later.
Countless managers have had votes of confidence, only to be binned within days due to fan pressure.
No matter how much support Martin feels he’s getting from the Rangers owners, there will come a tipping point.
The vast majority of punters feel that arrived with the defeat to Hearts last week.
Could Martin survive if it goes wrong against Hibs? It’s difficult to see how that would be possible.
There has been talk this week about Rangers looking at a contingency plan should things get worse. Let’s be honest, if Cavenagh and the 49ers weren’t thinking about alternatives then they wouldn’t be doing their job properly.
For now, they are sticking by Martin and the Rangers boss was upbeat and positive in his press conference yesterday.
That’s no surprise. There is no point in him being defeatist — he has to meet things head on.
Being the Rangers boss in this current climate is one of the toughest jobs in world football.
There is an expectation on the club to win after a difficult spell lasting a long period of time.
It’s a tough gig for Martin but the start to the season has been unacceptable.
Kevin Thelwell, the sporting director, has to share the blame for that because his fingerprints are over a lot of the signings.
Time will tell whether bringing in the unproven Youssef Chermiti for £8million will prove to be smart business. Right now, it’s hard to see how he gets in the team ahead of Bojan Miovski.
The Hibs game is huge for Martin and he needs to win by any means possible. He came with a reputation of having a clear style of play but we haven’t seen that.
It’s flat and people are rightly asking questions after a net spend of £20m this summer. That is big money in Scottish football but there has been nothing to show for it.
Rangers have been miles off it and don’t look like they can lay a glove on anyone. If you took a poll of fans just now, most would probably have Hibs down as favourites.
That is a sad indictment of where Rangers are and how poor they have been under Martin.
If they don’t start winning — and that means now — then only one thing is going to happen.
Cavenagh will insist he’s not here to sack Martin but a Hibs victory could change that.
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