Lee Martin knows how tough it is to crack Rangers as a 19-year-old winger – even if you’re rated one of Man United’s prize prospects.
So he’s not surprised to see Amad Diallo rise to stardom from an underwhelming Ibrox loan. Diallo, 22, faces former club Gers on Thursday in the best form of his young life. The Ivory Coast ace has played 31 games this season, scoring a Manchester derby winner and a late equaliser at Liverpool.
Diallo’s stunning 12-minute hat-trick rescued Reds against Southampton last week. Gers fans are left wishing more of that magic was on display from Diallo in 2022. Like Martin, who played 10 times for Paul Le Guen in 2006, Diallo didn’t light it up on loan. Still playing for Ramsgate at 37, Martin loves what the 22-year-old is producing for Ruben Amorim ahead of the Battle Of Britain clash. He said: “Diallo is a fantastic player. I’ve watched him have a great impact; he’s done really well.
“He’d been in and out but is now at the forefront after scoring a few goals. He’s been excellent. Bringing energy, legs, enthusiasm, drive, the determination that youngsters possess – and Man United might’ve been missing.
“It’s refreshing to see. He fits into that system, has that licence to get further forward in wide areas. He’s a breath of fresh air and the one that ignites them.”
Giovanni van Bronckhorst was playing title catch-up when Diallo joined Gers in January 2022. The then £37m United signing from Atalanta scored three goals and played an hour of the Scottish Cup Final win over Hearts. But he was a bit-part player. Six of his 13 appearances were starts and he didn’t manage a minute in Rangers’ storming Europa League Final run.
Martin understands how even Man United pedigree can’t help you off the Ibrox bench. He was that man as French coach Le Guen struggled to cut it in Scotland.
Martin said: “On loan at Rangers, you must hit the ground running, don’t have time, you must be consistent in performances and be up to that standard weekly. But, at 19, you’re not the finished article. You’re going to fluctuate and might not be capable of doing that.
“It might be a mindset thing, a lack of maturity. Maybe that was part of it with Diallo – I can’t speak for him. I was thrown straight in, played a few games and loved it. Ibrox was rocking on my debut against Hearts.
“Yes, I’d come from Man United but rubbing shoulders with Barry Ferguson, Dado Prso was a fantastic learning curve. But a knee injury hampered me, as did a loss of form coming back and falling out of favour with the manager.
“In that dip, you need a manager that will stand by you. But a Rangers manager doesn’t have the time to nurture a youngster. Pressure overtakes that. I saw shift in his mentality when it got a bit tough. He came from a big club in France but Rangers is a monster.
“If Paul le Guen had maybe known the league a bit better, he could’ve leant a bit more on the younger boys. But, in tough times, relying on someone getting back from injury, finding some form to get rid of a niggling sensation in his knee? That wasn’t going to happen.”
Martin didn’t get a great deal of guidance from the Frenchman before returning to Old Trafford mid-season and switching to Stoke for the season’s second half. Martin recalled: “I didn’t really get much feedback from Le Guen. I’m not sure if that was the language barrier but I felt we didn’t really know where we stood.
“He’d a bigger factor ongoing – surviving at Rangers. I understand that. He had to concentrate on himself and his team. There just wasn’t a lot of communication. It wasn’t beneficial to me. I was in a strange environment at 19, without an idea on playing time or if I was wanted.
“We cut ties because I didn’t feel I was ever going to be a part of things. I was too far gone in his memory. I didn’t want another six months climbing that hill and fighting to get back in. A new club, new angle and some appreciation would be my route.”
Despite the disappointment of ending on a downer, Martin was grateful to his United gaffer for making it all possible. “I think I ended up there because of Sir Alex’s love for Rangers,” he said. “That’s where he kind of pushed me.
“He wanted to protect me a little bit more but I’d accelerated so much the previous season at Royal Antwerp and the next step had to be a challenge. The first four, five games I really enjoyed and I learned so much. Even the injury taught me more than I realised at the time; how to look after my body and slow things down.
“As a young lad, I was expecting it just to happen for me but I struggled to come back. It was two months but should’ve been three and a half out. Sir Alex was superb.
“He told me to keep working, to try and get myself fit and, if I got in, then show my quality. But there were bits and pieces only. And that doesn’t get your fitness up.
“It was an uphill struggle all the way after the injury, a bad medial ligament one. It wasn’t right and I only started feeling better in myself at Stoke around February.”