RANGERS’ 1-1 draw with Dundee yesterday was the first time since 1989 that the Ibrox side hadn’t won either of their first two league encounters.
They had to come from behind to deny Steven Pressley’s side a rare victory at Ibrox thanks to James Tavernier’s injury-time penalty.
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And the week before they had failed to hang on to a lead to ship a late goal to Motherwell’s Manny Longelo to also only draw that one.
The Dundee performance was a surprise given how well Rangers had played in defeating Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League qualifier in midweek.
And former Ibrox hero Kris Boyd reckons Russell Martin should be worried already about his team’s lack of consistency.
Boyd was asked to assess Rangers’ start to the season by Sky Sports host Eilidh Barbour.
And the SunSport columnist was scathing in his assessment of the club’s recruitment – believing Martin hasn’t improved ANY area of the pitch from the team that featured last season.
He said: “Dundee deserve a lot of credit.
“Steven Pressley came with a way to set up and they had opportunities.
“They hit Rangers on the counter attack a few times, albeit they (Rangers) went down to 10 men.
“For Russell Martin it WOULD be a worry.
“You go from the highs of Tuesday night and we’ve seen it again from Rangers in Europe.
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“The result (against Plzen) was very good and there were glimpses in that performance where you would say, ‘okay, there’s something maybe starting to happen’.
“But there were also phases of play that would worry you.
“And last Saturday (against Motherwell) and yesterday….
“You look at managers who have come in previously and at the start of their regime they’ve been able to get a reaction out of the players domestically.
“It doesn’t seem to be happening (for Martin).”
Asked by Barbour why Martin wasn’t as scathing after the Dundee draw as he had been at Fir Park, Boyd replied: “Well, if you do it every time the players just switch off from it.
“There’s no doubt that a few of them needed a rocket last Saturday and they got that.
“But I look at the Rangers team yesterday.
“(Djeidi) Gassama’s come in on the left-hand side and it’s very difficult to judge him against anything from last season – (Ianis) Hagi played there a few times, (Hamza) Igamane sometimes played off that left, (Cyriel) Dessers too.
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“(Oliver) Antman is just in the door so it’s difficult to compare him to (Vaclav) Cerny.
“But Cerny’s numbers last year were through the roof in terms of goal contributions.
“Other than that I don’t really see Rangers having upgraded in any position.
“(Nasser) Djiga has done well but he’s on loan.
“Leon Balogun made defensive tackles and clearances. I know towards the end he was injured a fair bit but I don’t look at Djiga and think, ‘you’re a massive upgrade on Balogun’.
“Max Aarons is DEFINITELY not an upgrade on James Tavernier.
“(Joe) Rothwell has come into the middle of the pitch and I know it’s a different style of play that Rangers are wanting to play right now.
“But I don’t see him as an upgrade as it stands on (Nico) Raskin. (Lyall) Cameron is a tidy enough little player but Rangers have got a lot of work to do.
“The worry for Russell Martin so early in the season will be that Rangers in Europe have managed to find performances.
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