Celtic enjoyed the perfect start to their Scottish Premiership campaign on Sunday.
Three points were gained against St Mirren as Luke McCowan’s deflected goal was enough to secure a win on Flag Day at Celtic Park.
For Rangers, it was business as usual. They slipped up against Motherwell on Saturday and it’s safe to say Russell Martin was absolutely fuming after the game.
He attacked his players for not working hard enough, while telling some of them to ‘drop their egos’ if they want to continue playing under the former Southampton boss.
Graeme Souness has now given his take on Martin’s post-match tirade in Lanarkshire, and insists it’s exactly how a former Celtic manager would have responded.
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Souness compares Martin’s rage to Celtic icon Jock Stein
Former Rangers manager Souness was speaking at a press conference to promote Premier Sports’ coverage of Scottish football this season.
And he was pleased to see that Martin reacted in the way he did after the 1-1 draw with Motherwell, reminding Souness of his former Scotland boss Jock Stein.
Stein is one of Celtic’s most successful managers and is the only boss to guide Celtic to a European Cup triumph back in 1967.
Stein wasn’t one to be messed with and was ruthless when he had to be. For Souness, Martin reacted how Stein would have after a poor performance where standards were not met.
Souness said: “I know he (Martin) was upset by the performance at the weekend, and he’s put a marker down very quickly that this is not acceptable, and that’s how it should be.
“There were some experienced players he went after, leaving the captain out, and I liken it to when I was captain of Scotland and I worked under Jock Stein.
“Jock Stein would always pick out Kenny (Dalglish) and I. He left the younger guys alone and made the point of: ‘If I can get after them, I don’t need to speak to the younger ones.’
“So I think there’s nothing wrong with that. He’s (Martin) said: ‘This is my level, and nothing other than my level is acceptable.’
“It’s what Jock Stein would have done. He did it to me and he did it to Kenny. He’s putting a marker down. And what better time to do it than after 90 minutes that wasn’t acceptable to him?”
“When you talk about the current Rangers manager going down this road, that’s the road he (Stein) would have definitely gone down.”
Martin lucky to be mentioned in same sentence as Stein
Souness has compared Martin to Stein in reference to throwing their players under the bus, particularly if standards were not met.
But that’s where the comparisons stop, because Martin is not even in the same universe as Stein when it comes to man management and delivering success.
Brendan Rodgers has won 11 major domestic trophies as Celtic manager during his two spells at the club so far.
Stein has double that plus another three trophies, of course one of which being the European Cup. Only Willie Maley won more honours as Celtic boss than Stein.
Stein managed Scotland on two occasions, the first on a part-time basis in 1965 and then on a full-time contract between 1978 and 1985. He made Souness the captain of Scotland during his tenure.
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