Souness has hailed Rohl for turning things around after a disastrous Russell Martin spell which left the Ibrox hero dumbfounded
10:00, 21 Mar 2026
Graeme Souness on change in Rangers since Russell Martin disaster
Graeme Souness reckons Danny Rohl’s risk free Rangers are BETTER than Celtic – they just need a goalscorer.
The former Ibrox player-manager watched on as the Hoops dumped their rivals out of the Scottish Cup quarter-finals on penalties, just a week after fighting back to snatch a point at the death in a 2-2 Premiership draw.
Despite that, Gers are still well in the mix for a first league title win since 2021, with just three points separating the top three. Given the start made under Russell Martin, Souness is adamant that it would be some feat if Rohl was to end the season with his team top of the pile.
But even if they don’t, he’s just glad to see his team playing what he sees as common sense football compared to what was served up under Martin.
“I never thought he was the right choice in the first place and there was an obvious improvement when Danny Rohl took over,” he told Record Sport.
“Under the previous manager it was not football for…how can I put this in the nicest possible way? It’s not football that I can understand and I can’t understand anyone wanting to play that way.
“Especially at a club like Rangers, where it’s an up and at ’em football club, you have to be on the front foot all the time and not have 100 passes before you cross the halfway line.
“That ain’t football. Not in Scotland. That ain’t football anywhere.
Russell Martin was axed by Rangers
“Now, they mix it up a bit, they’re less predictable, a little bit . He’s simplified it for the players and thery play a less risky game of football. They’re not having too much possession near their own goal.
“You know, all they need someone to make a sloppy pass with that football we were witnessing before from the previous manager. It can lead to an effort on your goal. I think he’s simplified it, he’s made it less risky for them, and I would imagine, I would imagine, it’s a lot simpler for the players to understand.
“I think they need more goals. They’re a better team than Celtic. That game the other day was decided on penalties, but there was only one team going to win it.
“If you’re trying to attach logic to it, a team that has 24 shots and 120 minutes of football. A team that has one shot in 120 minutes, there should only be one winner. So Rangers can only look at themselves and blame themselves for not winning that game.That was the game I saw. I watched it… unfortunately, I was abroad at the time, and only saw the previous Old Firm game, where I believe Rangers were fantastic in the first half.
“And then the second half belonged to Celtic, but I think there’s a fundamental reason for that.”
There’s been a sea of change at Rangers since last summer, both on and off the pitch, but the Souness insists the club clawing it;s way back into title contention is down to one man.
“I think the one person that, deserves all the credit, really, is the manager,” he said. “Because I know how difficult a job that is, and he’s come in, and he seems to have hit the ground running. He’s made common sense decisions. As I said, he’s simplified it for the players he’s got.
Rangers Head Coach Danny Rohl
“He’s had one transfer window, but when you walk into a football club, you don’t get that job, you don’t get a job as a manager because it’s going well. Very, very, very rarely does that happen, where you’re handed a team that’s strong and going in the right direction.
“So he had to work out quite quickly what suited, what system, what way of playing suited those players, and he’s done that, and I think it’s… as I said, he’s had a common sense approach. There is too much… for the bluffers who comment about football, they try to introduce too much science into a game that’s really quite simple.
“I think he’s proven he’s doing a good job, and If he ends up winning the league, it won’t be a good job, it’ll be a great job, but right now, he’s doing a very good job.
“He’s barely got his feet under the table, and I think we ought to be patient Because what I see, what I saw, at that Old Firm game I was at, all we were missing was, someone to put the ball in the back of the net. I say only, that is the hardest thing to find in football. So for me, they need… and going back the last couple of years, that’s where Celtic have been better than Rangers.
“Not in general football terms, but they had better goalscorers, and that’s why they won the league. And we haven’t.
Graeme Souness presents a Cash4Clubs cheque to Easthouses Lily
“A couple years ago at Parkhead when we got the player sent off. And Tavernier scored, we’re 2-0 down.
“And we were a better team with 10 men, and Tavernier scored a free kick into the Rangers end, or it used to be Rangers end at Parkhead. But I saw a team that were just missing one thing, someone to put the ball in the back of the net, and I think that’s still the case today. Because you cannot have that much of the ball, many shots, And not score a goal, 24. That’s not good.”
Graeme Souness was speaking at Flutter’s Cash4Clubs initiative, which will see 250 community clubs across the UK and Ireland receive a share of grants worth a total of £500,000.
