Copyright scotsman
Rangers have confirmed two new coaching appointments as head coach Danny Röhl begins to build his backroom staff following his appointment at Ibrox on Monday. The 36-year-old former Sheffield Wednesday took training for the first time at Auchenhowie yesterday morning, before meeting the media at Ibrox in the afternoon, alongside club chairman Andrew Cavenagh, chief executive Patrick Stewart, and sporting director Kevin Thelwell. Set to take charge of his first game in Thursday night’s clash against SK Brann in the Europa League before facing Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday, Röhl urged his players to kick-start their season in his opening address: “I think this is a very important call for wins in a row,” he said. “We came here with a set of confidence, and I absolutely believe, what I saw in the morning training, we trained with intensity, we were very lively on the pitch. I see so much potential.” Following his appointment earlier in the week, Rangers have now added Matthias Kaltenbach to Röhl’s backroom staff as assistant coach, while Sascha Lense has been appointed as the men’s first team performance manager at Ibrox. Goalkeeper coach Sal Bibbo will remain in his role at Rangers, having worked with the German boss at Sheffield Wednesday previously, Röhl confirmed yesterday: “My goalkeeper coach arrived in the summer. This is also good to take him again." Lense, 50, worked alongside the new Rangers head coach at his previous club, Sheffield Wednesday, in a similar role, and is the father-in-law of German international Timo Werner. Having played the majority of his career in the 2. Bundesliga with Darmstadt and Frankfurt during the 1990s, he was hired by Manchester United in 2021 as a sports psychologist while the club was managed by interim boss Ralf Rangnick. He has also previously worked as a sports psychologist with Dynamo Dresden, RB Leipzig, and Schalke. Röhl’s assistant, Kaltenbach, arrives at Ibrox having previously worked with Dutch giants Ajax as an assistant manager. The 40-year-old previously played for SC Freiburg and began his coaching career at the age of 26 with TSG Hoffenheim, where he worked as an assistant coach for the under-19 team. During his time in TSG Hoffenheim youth development squads, he worked alongside current German national team manager Julian Nagelsmann, winning the German under 19 Championship in 2014. Following Nagelsmann’s promotion to the first team, Kaltenbach was given the head coach role with the under 19 squad, before being promoted to the role of assistant coach shortly afterwards. He served under Nagelsmann, Alfred Schreuder, and Sebastian Hoeneß in the Bundesliga for a total of six seasons as the club’s assistant manager. He would join Ajax in 2022 following the appointment of Schreuder at the Johan Cruyff Arena, but departed after just six months when the head coach was sacked from his position due to poor results. During yesterday’s press conference at Ibrox, the new Rangers boss said: “I will try to bring a former Rangers player with a good background here as well, because for me it’s important to take this advantage from a guy who knows Rangers, who knows the league, why should I not use this? This would be a perfect setup for me.” While no confirmation of who the former Rangers player is at the time of writing, there have been suggestions that former Ibrox favourites Lee Wallace and Steven Davis are potential options, while under 19 head coach Steven Smith has also stated an ambition to progress into the Rangers first team coaching setup. Sign up to The Scotsman’s daily football newsletter to get unrivalled Scottish football news and analysis - subscribe for free here.
