AS relationships go, it’s certainly been turbulent.
And Russell Martin has just been grilled on Nico Raskin AGAIN as he met the media this morning.
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He’s confirmed reports that the club’s little Belgian midfielder WON’T be in the squad for the crunch Premiership clash with Hearts – despite the fact he was welcomed back to training after international duty.
Raskin played no part in the planning for the recent goalless Old Firm draw with Celtic after scathing comments made by his dad Thierry about the manager.
SunSport thought it was worth giving you a blow-by-blow account of the affair ahead of the latest update this morning.
July 6
Things don’t start particularly well between the pair, with Raskin failing to re-emerge for the second half of the 2-2 friendly draw with Club Brugge at Ibrox.
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Without naming any names, Martin pointedly hailed his second half team, while Connor Barron was named captain.
He says afterwards: “We should have fouled twice for the goals. I was angry at half-time. And I don’t really get angry about friendlies and stuff. But both goals were really avoidable.”
July 15
After a St George’s Park training camp where Raskin came on at half time in a 1-1 draw with Barnsley, Martin says the midfielder can do more for Rangers – by doing less.
He insists he’s pivotal to his plans – but tells the 24-year-old he can improve on last season by modifying his game.
Martin says: “He’s been good, Nico. He has so many tools. I think less is probably more with Nico.
“We can get more out of him, more in product by doing a bit less so he hasn’t got to make the game up now.
“It’s about making him understand why we’re asking him to do what we’re going to ask him to do.
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“And he sees the benefit in it because he’s a really outstanding footballer, he has a big character.
“I think you need that. It’s why he’s done well at this football club. He has big character.
“He wants to take the ball, but I think he’s had to do a lot in the previous season, a lot to sort. Whereas now, we’re going to ask him to do a bit less.
“When he does have to do stuff, to do it with real quality, aggression, intensity, which he has. So hopefully, we will be able to bring out an even more impactful Nico because I think he’s a really excellent player.”
July 26
Raskin starts both legs of the Champions League qualifying win against Panathinaikos, with a 30-minute cameo during the 2-2 Ibrox draw against Middlesbrough coming in between.
Again naming no names, the Gers boss still isn’t happy with a performance where the Greeks created planty of chances: “My job as head coach here is to always want more from the players, so I’m really pleased with tonight that we qualified. But I have to want more in terms of the performance and what we’re doing — we have to be better.
August 2nd
Things go from bad to worse after a 1-1 draw in the league opener against Motherwell as Martin accuses his players of having “egos” and warning them if they don’t perform then they “will get left behind”.
There’s speculation that Raskin could be one of the “two men” on the pitch doing what they “want to do” – and “self preservation’ stuff”.
He told Sky Sports: “It’s not one person’s fault at all.
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“But the default is to revert to type, which is when it’s going really well, everyone’s all in, it’s really good, but it’s not going well, you protect yourself a little bit, and the self-preservation stuff.
“You can’t play for this club and enjoy the really good moments, and not when it gets tough.
“You have to be all in all the time, and we had two men on the pitch today that want to do what they want to do.
“So, if you are playing with real intensity and courage, in your position that we coach you in, no problem.
“When you want to just jog around and do what you want to do, there’s a big problem.”
August 5
Raskin – and skipper James Tavernier – are unceremoniously dumped from the starting XI for the Champions League qualifier vs Viktoria Plzen.
It results in the best performance – and result – of the Martin era, a 3-0 win with Raskin all smiles afterwards.
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He made the changes “just for freshness, just for energy in the team, for balance in the team, to approach it in the right way.
“Then we have some really good options on the bench as well. I think it’s huge [for the players coming into the team].”
August 9
Raskin remains on the bench for the home shocker against Dundee, but he IS at least singled out by his manager for his efforts after coming on the pitch as ten-man Gers grab a point late on.
He said: “Nico Raskin was great when he game on, he tackled more than the whole team.
“We need at attack everything, it took us too long to attack the game tonight.”
August 11
Martin suggests that Nico Raskin was unsettled by transfer approaches this summer – but again praises his “incredible” reaction to being left out of the team.
He says: “What Nico did last season, rightly or wrongly, I can’t have a feeling about. I can only judge on right now. And he played brilliantly on Saturday.
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“He came out of the team for reasons that me and him spoke about. And his reaction has been top, like really, really brilliant. And that’s all you can ever ask for.
“There’s been a bit of uncertainty about him this summer, for sure. Not from people ringing us, but I think from people ringing him, definitely.
“So I think that’s affected his approach. Not in terms of professionalism, but he’s a young man, of course it’s going to have an impact at some point.
“And then we’ve had a discussion and since he came out of the team, he’s been a different guy. Incredible.”
Martin adds that he wants to keep him after the window closes: “Hopefully we can get to the end of the window, he’s played brilliantly, the window shuts, he’s still here. And then we can keep improving and keep kicking on.”
August 27
Humiliation for Martin, and Raskin, as the Belgian starts on the bench as ten-man Gers attempt in vain to salvage a Champions League spot in Bruges.
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It’s already far too late by the time he climbs into action, as a wounding result leaves Martin fearing for his job.
The manager says: “It was madness, really. We apologise to the fans that travelled and the fans back home. There’s not enough harmony or care for each other quite yet. We knew that coming in. We have to build that. That harmony has been disrupted for sure.”
August 28
There’s no sign of any more harmony any time soon.
Because another major obstacle in the road arrives, as Raskin’s dad Thierry has a blast in the Belgian press.
He is quoted as saying by Belgian newspaper L’Avenir: “A coach who leaves out 8 players from a team that reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League last season, a coach who transfers 8 players (and puts them in the team) that he knows very well (this kind of thing still exists!!!!!) but guys who come out of nowhere and the guy has an oversized ego, and that’s an understatement, he thinks he can go and play a match for the Champions League.
“This football world is incredible…”
August 29
A tetchy Martin sidesteps a series of enquiries on the topic of Nico Raskin ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm clash vs Celtic.
That’s amid rumours that he wouldn’t be involved in planning for Sunday’s totemic first Old Firm match of the season.
While Martin insisted the player WAS in training on Friday, he pointedly refuses to say whether the Belgian international would be in the squad for Sunday’s clash.
Asked specifically on the squad, he said: ” Nico WAS in training today.
“The whole squad is here.
“Things can change, the transfer window is open so I can’t tell you if anyone is definitely going to be in the squad or not.”
August 31
The game ends in a goalless stalemate, but it doesn’t stop Rangers fans chanting Raskin’s name.
Asked if the Belgian had played his last game for the club, Martin said:
“I didn’t hear anything. I just want to focus my energy on the squad today who I’m proud of.
“It’s not about me, Nico or any individual. I just want to talk about the group who were brilliant today.
“I’m not going to talk about individuals. The squad we picked today was one we knew would run for each other.
“They were all in and we felt that.”
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September 8
Raskin tells Belgian media: “My situation at the club is a bit complicated.
“I’m going to go back, do the best I can to sort it out, get some playing time.
“But it doesn’t just depend on me, it depends on the coach, the club.
“I’ll do my best because I know this is an important year and I absolutely want to be part of this campaign with Belgium.”
Read more on the Scottish Sun
September 11
Raskin returns to training – but is told there are no guarantees that he will immediately return to the playing squad for the clash vs Hearts.
September 12
Russell Martin tells the media Raskin WON’T be involved in the squad for the huge Premiership clash vs Hearts.
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