One of the most frustrating things Ibrox Noise has experienced for years is the undeserved cult hero status given to one of the rangers Star player. Yes, he had a half-decent World Cup. We will not deny that one or two of his matches were reasonable.
A couple of solid cameos and a few energetic shifts do not, however, transform a player into the untouchable figure many have made him out to be. The reality on the ground at Rangers has been far less impressive, and the transfer market is now delivering the clearest verdict of all.
The fact remains that no bids have arrived for him. None whatsoever. Not a serious enquiry that has materialised into an actual offer. The football world simply is not as interested in Nico Raskin as he or sections of the support expected.
The media certainly believed that interest would emerge after the World Cup. They talked up links, floated names, and created the impression that clubs were lining up. Yet when the window opened properly, the silence was deafening.
Nobody Has Bid for Raskin
Only one bid was ever reported. However, it has since turned out that the offer never actually happened. What was presented as firm interest evaporated under closer scrutiny.
That should have been a wake-up call. Instead, the narrative around Raskin continued largely unchanged. The endless praise for him has frustrated Ibrox Noise no end. We know that he wants to leave and his attitude regularly stinks on the pitch. Those two facts alone should have tempered the hero worship. They have not.
He also achieved a level of cult status following the Russell Martin incident that he sure as hell did not deserve.
Let us not forget, although most fans seemingly have, that Raskin initiated all of that. Russell Martin conveniently became the scapegoat and the bad guy. However, Raskin fell out with his manager and Martin dropped him for his attitude.
That is the sequence of events. It is not complicated. A player who falls out with the manager and finds himself out of the team is not automatically the wronged party.
Generally speaking, any player dropped by the boss for their attitude represents a major problem. All supporters defended it because Russell Martin was the manager at the time and was deeply unpopular.
The emotion of the moment overrode the principle. You cannot act too big for your boots with any boss and expect the support to automatically take your side every single time. That is exactly what happened here. The principle was abandoned because the manager was the one the fans wanted gone.
Raskin Keeps Falling Out with Managers
This is not an isolated episode. Raskin keeps falling out with managers. He became unavailable under Danny Rohl, as we recall. That bust-up in the press between the pair was ugly. He then walked away towards the World Cup with no interest in Rangers whatsoever. The club was an afterthought. His focus was elsewhere, and he made little attempt to hide it.
His performance against Hibs summed him up perfectly. Raskin tried to start fights with Hibs players at least three times. He appeared determined to get himself sent off. The aggression was not channelled into winning the ball or driving the team forward. It was pure frustration leaking out. His attitude on the turf is absolutely ghastly and simply does not befit a Rangers player. He appears angry and pent up. He desperately wants to leave and is making no bones about that.
Put simply, Nico Raskin has fallen out with far too many managers during his career. First came Ronny Deila at Standard Liège. Raskin had some kind of altercation with him and found himself demoted to the Belgian club’s reserves. That should have been an early warning sign. Players who repeatedly clash with coaches rarely change their approach. They simply move on to the next club and repeat the pattern until the market eventually catches up with them.
Then came interim Rangers coach Barry Ferguson. Ferguson played the situation down publicly and claimed that he liked the lad’s spark. However, in reality, they repeatedly found themselves at loggerheads. Ferguson could at least relate to what he saw from Raskin because he had been that type of player himself. It was not an outright falling out in the same dramatic fashion as later episodes, but acrimony remained between them. That did not help Rangers one bit during a difficult period.
Martin and Rohl Suffered the Same Problem
Russell Martin then took over that summer and we know what happened there. The relationship collapsed. Martin dropped him. The support largely sided with the player. The principle of managerial authority was sacrificed on the altar of anti-Martin sentiment. Danny Rohl became the next victim. Of course, Rohl’s management was absolutely appalling in many respects. However, he made comments in the press which Raskin took exception to. Raskin then fell out with him as well. The pattern held.
Put simply, Raskin keeps falling out with every club manager he works under. The exception, of course, comes at international level. Raskin would never dare fall out with his national team coach. He wants to play for his country too much. The stakes are different and the hierarchy is clearer in his mind. However, this takes us away from the simple point that Raskin absolutely stank at Ibrox for long stretches. We are of course referring to his performance and attitude. He repeatedly picked fights with opposing players and offered next to nothing on the pitch. Rangers were no better off with him than they had been without him on too many occasions.
Raskin Is Not Rangers’ Best Player
This was the player everyone demanded should start. He still appears to hold cult status among a significant section of the support. Many argue that Raskin is Rangers’ best player because he represents Belgium. He also started for them during the later stages of the World Cup. International recognition is used as the ultimate proof of quality. It is a lazy argument.
Let us not forget that Thelo Aasgaard represented a team which also reached the latter stages of a major tournament. He did not play as much as Raskin. However, does anybody seriously believe Thelo Aasgaard is one of Rangers’ best players? Probably not. The selective use of international status to elevate one player while ignoring others is convenient rather than consistent. Raskin has built a huge cult following. He might possess ability and we will not deny that he is a player. There are moments when the technique and energy are visible. Those moments have been too infrequent and too heavily outweighed by the negatives.
His attitude, stinking lack of discipline and desperation to leave Rangers undermine that ability. He is not as good as he thinks he is. He is also not as good as many fans believe. The defeat against Hibs highlighted that hugely. Rangers lost miserably at Ibrox and Raskin offered absolutely nothing to reverse that trend. There was no leadership, no drive, no moment of quality that changed the direction of the game. Just more of the same frustration and confrontation.
We really wish to see the back of Raskin. Seeing him start is not something we want any more. The cult status has long since outstripped the actual contribution. The lack of bids this summer is not an accident or a temporary market failure. It is the market delivering a more accurate assessment of the player than the noise around him has allowed for years. When the praise stops matching the performances and the attitude, the transfer market eventually notices. In this case, it has noticed clearly enough that no one is prepared to bid.
That should be the end of the debate. Instead, the same arguments will likely continue until he finally leaves. Until then, the frustration remains. An overrated player with a persistent attitude problem has been elevated beyond his actual level for far too long. The absence of bids is simply the latest, and most telling, confirmation of that reality.