Danny Rohl thrown into burning Rangers furnace with little time to take heat off his paymasters
Danny Rohl thrown into burning Rangers furnace with little time to take heat off his paymasters
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Danny Rohl thrown into burning Rangers furnace with little time to take heat off his paymasters

Mark Atkinson 🕒︎ 2025-10-20

Copyright scotsman

Danny Rohl thrown into burning Rangers furnace with little time to take heat off his paymasters

Third time lucky for Rangers. The Ibrox club finally have their new head coach after confirming the appointment of Danny Rohl. After coming close to landing Steven Gerrard and even closer to snaring Kevin Muscat, Rangers ended a protracted and tumultuous 15-day search for Russell Martin’s successor by announcing late on Monday afternoon that Rohl has agreed a two-and-a-half-year deal in Govan. Rangers will undoubtedly be relieved that they have their man. This recruitment process, headed up by chairman Andrew Cavenagh and his deputy Paraag Marathe, has been swifter than the months it took to land Martin, yet they have crammed plenty of drama into just over a fortnight. The term soap opera is probably not doing the whole affair justice. A hunt played out predominantly in the public domain, Rangers looked set to land former boss Gerrard within the first week in what appeared to be a blockbuster move that would have appeased the masses. Talks were constructive and amicable before the 45-year-old said the time wasn’t right. Rohl was already on the scene at that point, seen as the back-up plan, only to rule himself out of the running as Shanghai Port boss Muscat became the primary target until Sunday evening, when it emerged discussions had broken down over a December start date. Enter Rohl once more. This time, a deal was quickly concluded, and the 36-year-old whisked up to Glasgow on Monday with a scarf above his head before the sun had set. In terms of a journey in appointing a manager, Rangers have driven across treacherous terrain. Cavenagh, Marathe, 49ers Enterprises, chief executive Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell cannot say their own reputations have been enhanced by what has gone on since Martin’s departure, failing to get two candidates over the line before Rohl. It will be fascinating to hear their take on such matters when they speak publicly at Rohl’s unveiling on Tuesday. For now, the spotlight falls on Rohl, a 36-year-old German from Zwickau who has been out of work since leaving Sheffield Wednesday in the summer after the English Championship side plunged into the financial mire under owner Dejphon Chansiri. Rohl presided over the Owls for the best part of two seasons. When he was appointed in October 2023, he became the youngest manager in the football league. He kept them up on the final day of the season, Wednesday recovering from their worst-ever start to a league campaign, and then last term finished 12th amid the spectre of off-field issues. On the face of it, Rohl’s previous experience as a manager does not immediately make him equipped to be in charge of Rangers. It is his coaching background which gives him serious clout, having worked with RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich, the German national team and Southampton as an assistant. He has forged a reputation of being a progressive coach and a strong man-manager. Many believed it would be a matter of time before Rohl was snapped up by a big club in England or on the continent. And while he has dealt with a crisis situation at Hillsborough, he is entering an altogether different world at Ibrox. Rangers are in a state right now. Trailing Premiership leaders Hearts by 13 points just eight games into the season and having lost their first two Europa League assignments, Rohl has to hit the ground running to make a genuine fist of this season. The margin for error is getting smaller with each passing month. Before the next international break in mid-November, he has some heavyweight fixtures to deal with: SK Brann (a), Kilmarnock (h), Hibs (a), Roma (h), Dundee (a) and the small matter of a Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Celtic at Hampden. There is very little time to work on the training pitch with a group of players who flunked so spectacularly under Martin. He is dealing with an inherited squad. The 12 new summer signings have largely failed to impress and his one-to-one skills will be sorely tested in the first few weeks of his tenure, as will his ability to shore up a team that are porous and weak at key moments. Rohl is an attack-minded coach and operated with French winger Djeidi Gassama at Wednesday, one of the few positive stories to come out of Ibrox this season since his move during the summer. Another of his many big jobs will be to build a team around midfielder Nicolas Raskin, who was ostracised under Martin yet continues to shine with a Belgium national side that are on the brink of qualifying for the World Cup. Making him a key figure will enhance the team and his standing with the fans. Rohl does have enormous room for growth at Rangers given where the club finds itself right now. Charlie Austin, who worked under Rohl at Southampton, labelled him a “phenomenal coach” and played up his counter-pressing and fitness-driven philosophy. “If they show this manager respect, and trust his process, then it’s an exciting project going forward,” was Austin’s ultimate message to the Rangers players. There can be little doubt of the respect Rohl commands as a coach, but being in charge of Rangers is so much more than that. At 36, he is their youngest manager since Graeme Souness was appointed in 1986 and his callow years are going to be tested to the limit by the scrutiny and pressure every Rangers boss has to experience. His paymasters will desperately hope that Rohl can find a quick cure to the malaise that has engulfed so many at Ibrox right now. It would also take the spotlight off what has so far been a deeply unimpressive tenure since they took over Rangers in the summer. This managerial search has not bought them any more credit with the fans. Only Rohl can change that.

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