Mikey Moore has insisted his underwhelming start to life at Rangers was his own fault, not Russell Martin's, as he reflected on the manager's turbulent 122-day reign at Ibrox.
Martin was sacked after just 16 games in charge following a disastrous start to the season that saw Rangers drop 13 points from their first seven league games and suffer a record-equalling 6-0 defeat to Club Brugge. Chief executive Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell followed him out of the door, with the club's supporters venting their anger at the faltering campaign.
Moore, who arrived on loan from Tottenham with a reputation as one of English football's brightest young talents, struggled to make an impact under Martin. Red tape meant he missed the first six games of the season as Rangers waited for the teenager to turn 18 before he could make his debut against Alloa in mid-August. By the time Martin's tenure collapsed two months later, Moore had registered just six starts, no goals and no assists.
Moore refuses to blame Martin
While some pointed to Martin's rigid tactics as the reason for Moore's struggles, the 18-year-old has taken full responsibility for his own performances.
"Russell Martin has got his structure and his way of playing but I really respect him as a guy," Moore told Record Sport in the first of an exclusive three-part interview. "I get it didn't go the way he wanted at Rangers. But he brought me to the club and I thought he was a really good guy. He tried to help me but obviously I wasn't performing my best.
"Maybe there were times under Russell I wasn't playing in the best, best position to get the most out of me. But I've got to take responsibility for the way I performed at that time. No matter where I am put on the pitch, the standards I set for myself stay the same and the way I was playing at that point was unacceptable."
Moore revealed that his father had also been critical of his early displays. "Even coming home, my dad said to me, 'I never want to see you play like that again, no matter where you are.' I was very poor for the first few weeks but I can't blame me not doing my technical basics on the position a manager is playing me in," he said.
Turning point under Martin
Moore eventually scored his first Rangers goal in a 3-0 win over Dundee at the start of November, embracing the pressure that came with playing at Ibrox.
"I think if you're not ready to accept that responsibility, then it's a big problem for you as an individual," he said. "You can easily pass the blame onto other people and say that it's the manager or say that it's this person. But I'm on a football pitch with 11 players on each side. If I'm not affecting the game that's on me.
"There are things managers can do to help you out with, especially as a young player. But it's your job to learn your trade, learn how to play men's football. Obviously there are some tactical things that have an impact but ultimately it comes down to how much you want to run, how much you want to take care of your basics on the pitch. So for me I take responsibility for my first few months at the club. I'm never going to say it was Russell Martin's fault or someone else's fault. It was me who quite clearly wasn't technically good enough in a lot of games."
Moore admitted Martin had faced intense abuse from supporters, who repeatedly told the manager to "get to f**k" during his final weeks. "Yeah, Russell didn't have it nice. He got it quite bad but that's what happens when you don't win enough games. Now he's obviously over at Leicester and I see that he's picked up a few wins in a row. Russell has his way of playing and he really trusts that," Moore said.
Flourishing under Rohl
Martin may not have seen the best of Moore, but his successor Danny Rohl did. The teenager scored seven goals and provided four assists once Rohl gave him more freedom than he had been afforded on the wing under Martin.
"Danny came in and straight away he said to me, 'You're going to be one of our best players'," said Moore, last season's PFA Scotland young player of the year. "I remember one of his first games was down at Kilmarnock. We won 3-0 and I started on the bench. I came on in about the 50th minute and scored. But early in the day he called me in. He said, 'You're not going to start today but I promise you you'll be one of our best players'. And from there I kind of got a new energy.
"I just wanted to run, I just wanted to get on the ball and show what I can do. I think I realised I can play at this level, I can get on the ball and help the team. From there I really pushed on and he really showed a lot of trust in me, so I'm very thankful to him for that."
