Does Bates’ Rangers exit make Russell Martin staying seem inevitable?

Follow us on Google Discover

Glasgow Rangers defender David Bates will leave Ibrox at the end of the season.

When Russell Martin suggested last month, in comments reported by the Daily Mail, that he wanted to stay at Rangers beyond the end of his loan spell, it appeared that the opinion amongst the Ibrox faithful was divided regarding whether they wanted him to stay or not.

Since then however, Martin’s form has continued to dip and it seems highly possible that there would be a larger group of Gers fans who would prefer to see him return to Norwich in the summer than there would be urging the club to keep hold of him.

The 32-year-old has been poor of late. He was superb in his first few weeks with the club, forming a really excellent partnership with David Bates which appeared to have some serious potential.

However, Bates has not played since the last Old Firm game and along with Bruno Alves, Rangers’ defence has looked significantly weaker. And based on the last few weeks – barring the impressive 4-0 win over Dundee at the weekend – it is difficult to imagine that the Rangers hierarchy would be keen on keeping Martin if their decision was solely focused on his form.

But given the quite incredible news that Bates is now leaving for Hamburg in the summer, it could perhaps be fair to suggest that letting Martin return to Carrow Road is almost no longer an option for the Gers if they can avoid it.

Martin’s form has dipped, but without him, Graeme Murty has Alves, Fabio Cardoso and Ross McCrorie to pick from before he starts dropping down to look at the academy ranks or rely on makeshift options, such as Lee Wallace perhaps.

And given that McCrorie looks to be even more impressive in a holding midfield role, the Rangers hierarchy are putting themselves under an enormous amount of pressure as going into next season with Alves, Cardoso and McCrorie as their frontline options would be a baffling call.

Martin’s performances have been less impressive lately, but surely it would be fair to suggest that now that Bates’ future lies elsewhere, it is a safe bet to predict that Rangers will pursue a permanent deal for the Scotland international when the window opens before they leave themselves with even more work to do.