Scottish Premiership side, Rangers have confirmed the signing of Russell Martin from Norwich City on loan for the remainder of the season. Martin is a huge boost to the defensive lineup who otherwise was a left unutilised by Daniel Farke in the City squad. The 32-year-old who has racked up over 300 matches in his time with the Canaries had been reduced to a sporadic player over concerns of recurring injuries.
A veteran who has the highest Premier League appearances under Norwich needed an escaped from the climate he was stuck and has found exactly that at Ibrox Stadium.
The Rangers fans are pleased to see their side contending for the league title after winning promotion last year but on the other hand, will be disappointed to see Celtic win their seventh consecutive Scottish Premiership trophy.
An 11 point chase is not an easy task to overcome but is still possible for all the hopefuls and the optimists. Has it been done in top-flight football? Yes. After the 0-0 draw to the league leaders in their last game of 2017, the climb is now even tougher with the gruelling second half of the season already upon us.
Graeme Murty has exercised his best approach in management ever since he got appointed after the struggling Pedro Caixinha. Caixinha had tried to bring about a revolution with his approach and player signings at the Ibrox, but had failed with his approach and subsequently got fired.
Martin has 29 caps for Scotland and can play at right-back or centre-half. He is Rangers’ fourth signing in a busy January as Murty begins to reshape his squad. The experienced Scotsman can line up with Danny Wilson in the centre-back positions and lead the squad from the defensive backline. Bruno Alves is struggling to overcome an ankle problem and Martin will be the ideal man to replace him for the remainder of the season. Of course, the wings will need some cover and James Tavernier is the best option to appear from the right while Declan John can feature on the left.
Sean Goss’ arrival has definitely solidified the heart of the park and he can easily break into the first team ahead of a veteran Niko Kranjcar. Along with Jason Holt and Ross McCrorie, the young midfield trio is a force to be reckoned with.
Jamie Murphy can feature from the benches behind the likes of Josh Windass and Daniel Candeias. But now that Jason Cummings has arrived, Murty will have the option to experiment with the striker role along with Alfredo Morales. Maybe one of the midfield options can be sacrificed to field the duo in a 4-4-2 formation in some fixtures.
The best lineup for the side with Martin featuring in it might look like this –
