Why Rangers Should Stick With Rohl

A look back over the league run under Danny Rohl, weighing up what has improved and what still looks short. The argument comes back to fitness, balance in midfield and the right recruitment.

I’ve taken a bit of time after Rangers v Hearts to look back over the last 26 league games. Twenty-four games into the Danny Rohl era it felt like the title could be on the way, then two games later it’s gone. I’m trying to be as impartial as possible and focus on evidence, but there’s opinion in here too.

What changed after the early wobble

Rohl came in after Russell Martin was sacked, and we were nine games in with one win, one loss and seven draws. He got the team winning and clawed it back. Early on it was defensive solidity without creating much, then we started scoring and conceding, and there were games that served as warnings.

We went out of both cups to our rival, one because of an early red card (and we still took it to extra time), and one down to poor finishing and chance creation. The biggest thing missing has been the complete 90-minute performance.

Fitness, style and the missing number six

Pre-season was geared towards possession-heavy, extremely structured football. Now we’re under a more Red Bull style coach, high press and high intensity, and the team have looked jaded recently. To me there’s a clear reason: the players aren’t fit enough for it. You can criticise Rohl for playing that way, but that’s what he was hired to do.

We’ve lacked a proper 6 since Davis left the club, and Raskin has become a problem for me. He wants to be a 6, but he is not a 6. People point to Belgium, but that’s a midfield with Tielemans and De Bruyne. It’s a level up, and he’s got a natural 6 beside him. Without that here, it turns into chaos-ball.

Creativity issues and defensive frailties

We’re incredibly short on creative players. Moore’s assists have been poor, Gassama poor, Aasgaard poor, Skov has flopped and Antman has too. The data suggested Aasgaard would not be a creator, more of a goal-scoring midfielder, and it was similar with Gassama as an impact scorer rather than a creator.

We don’t have that midfielder who can thread the ball through and break the lines, and we don’t have the players for the final pass. Defensively, the frailties have been there as well. Fernandez is inexperienced, as are Djiga and Meghoma. Tav’s legs are going, Sterling is made of soggy Weetabix, and Butland has too many mistakes in him and one of the worst xG prevented in the league.

Summer rebuild and the call on the manager

In the summer we’ll have a large number of outs and ins. I’m talking a full defensive rebuild, midfield needing replaced with Raskin and Dio likely to move on, wings needing upgraded and filled, and I expect at least one striker to move on too, meaning replacements there as well. The big question is whether we recruit athletic signings for a Rohl set-up, including the 6 and the creators we need, or change style and coach again.

The cons against Rohl are easy to spot: strange subs at times, poor timing, a low win rate against the top six, and being more reactionary than proactive in games. He did tell the team to treat it as 0-0 and go again, but they sat back and invited pressure. His ability to change a game during a half doesn’t seem as strong as his ability to change it at half-time, and he doesn’t have the aura of a Souness or Walter.

But the pros matter too. It would be silly to ignore closing a 13-point gap to one, even if the last two games have blown it back out to seven. There’s been improvement in individuals like Fernandez and Chermiti, and Barron was looking his best for us under Rohl. The mentality looked better until the last couple of matches, and the numbers improved. He’s averaged 2.3 points with a team that had 10 from nine games, and in his only other managerial appointment the first season was about survival and bedding in a system.

His second season there was more control of the ball and better attacking output, even if defensive frailties remained, and Wednesday were operating on a shoestring. If you apply that logic here, in a less competitive league with a larger budget, we might see the best of a Rohl Rangers next season.

Should we have won this league? Yes, because of how poor Celtic have been and Hearts having a much smaller budget. Did we deserve to win it? No. We’ve lost the least number of games (four) but drawn 12, and that is far too many. Controlling games and killing them off has been a problem for a few seasons, not just this one.

Style of play always comes up, but it’s a criticism that’s been aimed at Clement, Rohl, Beale, Ferguson and others. We hated GVB’s league style, and it took Gerrard three years and over 60 players to build something that worked, even if he inherited a mess. We hated Martin’s style too, and Cavanagh was right in what he said. Rangers fans are demanding, highly emotional and hard-working, and the squad should match that. Rohl does. He just needs the players that do now.

To wrap it up, I believe we should stick this out with Rohl. I’m not 100% sold and I’m not 100% sure it’s the right call, but I’m more convinced it’s right than wrong. With the right tools, I think he delivers silverware next season.

Written by AyrshireMurphy May 5 2026 11:59:18