TOO SCARED TO PLAY? MAN UP!

Martin's excuses about anxiety are given short shrift by Vignal

- BY SCOTT MCDERMOTT

IT'S a notion Gregory Vignal is still trying to get his head around - a Rangers player too scared to play at Ibrox.

That was the damning assessment of under-pressure manager Russell Martin on Saturday after his team's disastrous 2-0 defeat to Hearts.

And even 2,000 miles away in Riga, it shocked Vignal to the core when he heard it.

The man who part of Gers' title-winning side in 2005 is now first-team coach at RFS in Latvia. But Glasgow is his home and Rangers is his passion.

That's why Martin's words at his post-match press conference hit hard. The Frenchman felt uncomfortable hearing it. Vignal immediately tried to imagine his old gaffer Alex McLeish in that situation.

Fear wasn't in McLeish's vocabulary. And he certainly wouldn't have signed anyone at Ibrox if he thought they didn't have the mental fortitude to cope with the demands.

Vignal, who won a double in Govan, can't believe the predicament Martin's side currently find themselves in.

Sitting 10th in the Premiership without a win after five games is a scenario he never thought hed see.

But that's the reality. And Vignal says they must shed the worry and anxiety about playing at Ibrox and show some guts to get to the job done.

The 44-year-old said: "I heard the manager say on Saturday the players are scared to play at Ibrox.

"So why are they signing those types of players? And why are they coming to play for this club if they are scared?