One Wolves loanee came in for praise from fans yesterday, despite a poor collective performance that saw the manager call out his players afterwards.
A few weeks ago, Wolves sanctioned a loan move to Rangers for defender Nasser Djiga.
Nasser Djiga had struggled for game time after completing a move to Molineux from Red Star Belgrade at the end of the January transfer window.
It was an outcome that always had potential, and Wolves officials now hope that Djiga can make the most of his time up in Scotland.
Yesterday, Rangers were in action against Motherwell in their opening Scottish Premiership match.
The game finished 1-1, and manager Russell Martin was certainly not happy after the game.
What Russell Martin said about Rangers players after Motherwell draw
Martin felt his side were lucky to get a draw against Motherwell, saying in his post-match interview: “I’ve said to the players … there is a default here at this football club, to revert to type. When it’s going really well, everyone’s all in … when it’s not going well, you protect yourself a little bit, self-preservation.
“You have to be all in, all the time. We had too many on the pitch today who just did what they wanted to do. When you want to just jog around, there’s a big problem.
“Some of them have to drop their ego. I’ll look at us tactically and accept my responsibility but today wasn’t really tactical, it was a mentality problem. We got more than we deserved today.”
Rangers fans praise Nasser Djiga
Despite the cutting verdict from Martin, plenty of Rangers fans took to social media yesterday to praise Djiga for his performance.
The feeling for many was that he was one of the only players to emerge from the game with some credit.
@EwanCarr: “Djiga’s performance was excellent today. Reminded me of big Carlos Cuellar.”
@__maason__: “Djiga very good, everyone else terrible.”
@SI92RFC: “2nd half was dreadful. But I like him. Seems like he wont stand for the bare minimum of not working hard. Antman, Moore and Aasgaard should make a big difference. Still early days. Djiga is a player.”
@_RyanRFC_: “On a positive note. Nasser Djiga is phenomenal.”
@raskinrangers72: “Last word on that pile of garbage is a positive Nasser Djiga is an incredible defender – the way he times when to go and when to back off is perfect, the way he reads the game for his blocks/tackles is brilliant. He is some defender that needs better players round him.”
Rangers fans also recently praised Djiga for his performance against Panathinaikos in Champions League qualifying, and seemingly the Burkina Faso international has got off to a good start at Ibrox.
Russell Martin praises Djiga
Martin’s post-match interview has done the rounds on social media, going somewhat viral for his honesty.
It seems Rangers have a lot of work to do if they are to challenge Celtic for the title this season.
But at least Wolves officials can take heart from Djiga’s efforts in his latest outing.
Martin did actually praise Djiga in addition to questioning the mentality of his team, saying (via The National): “John [Souttar] and Nasser [Djiga], Jack [Butland] did great. So there’s a few really, really good performances, but not enough.”
Hopefully Rangers can get to a point where everyone is performing to high levels even when the going is getting tough.
But for Wolves the main concern is that Djiga plays regularly and furthers his development.
So far, he seems to have made an impression which is great to see.