Our man reckons the pressure could soon be cranked up on the German as he prepares for a massive game against the league leaders
06:00, 04 May 2026
Rangers Head Coach Danny Rohl
They say you can’t put a price on a good time. And they’ve got a point.
But it’s equally true to say there’s no amount of money in the world that can buy experience.
And that is most probably the biggest problem right now where Rangers and Danny Rohl are concerned. Jammed as they are into the last chance saloon.
Rather than enjoying the moment and embracing the thrill ride of this rollercoaster of a title run-in, life is starting to feel all a bit more stressful for the German than he would almost certainly have wished for it to be.
Having unexpectedly dragged his players into the thick of a title fight Rohl watched on as their legs began to wobble all over again at the first sight of trouble at home to Motherwell last time out.
Celtic, in the meantime, have taken full advantage by bagging a full six points from their opening two post split fixtures, including Sunday’s lunchtime nerve shredder against ten men at Easter Road.
That 2-1 victory allowed the champions to muscle their way back to level points with the leaders at the Premiership summit.
Yes, it was another largely unconvincing performance but Kelechi Iheanacho’s late winner means the stage has been perfectly set for what is about to follow, both in the capital on Monday and at Parkhead on Sunday when Rohl arrives on the other side of town.
You can’t put a price on a good time. But the outlook for Rohl could quickly become downright miserable, and particularly depending on what goes on at Tynecastle.
Because, if the 37-year-old does not instantly repair some of the damage done by that defeat to Motherwell, then he’ll be heading across the Clyde to Celtic Park on the ultimate hiding to nothing.
Rangers boss Danny Rohl
And that’s where the true value of experience is likely to come into play. Because the numbers are stacking up which suggest a managerial victory for Rohl over Derek McInnes might be, to be blunt, a bit of a long shot.
In truth, it’s all been a bit of a struggle for him whenever Rohl has come up against the men who are currently widely considered as among the most competent operators in the Scottish top flight.
McInnes and Falkirk’s John McGlynn have been rated as the two most outstanding, at least according to their peers at the SPFA.
But wily old Celtic veteran Martin O’Neill and Motherwell’s rising star, Jens Berthel Askou, are obviously worthy of honourable mentions.
And Rohl hasn’t fared particularly well against all four of them since his appointment in the home dugout at Ibrox back in October.
In fact, he’s won none of his three Old Firm derby games against O’Neill, has recorded one win and a loss in two games against McInnes, a win and a draw against McGlynn, with one win, a draw and that crushing post split beating from his three meetings with Askou.
That’s a total of just three victories from all 10 encounters. It hardly makes for great reading, at least not from a Rangers perspective.
And yet neither should it come as too much of a surprise as Rohl is entering completely uncharted waters where his own fledgling career is concerned. He’s a relative novice where all this is concerned.
There were some of us – albeit not all that many – who expressed considerable surprise that Rohl’s name was even brought up in the conversation when Kevin Thelwell was the man placed in charge of sourcing and selecting the Rangers boss.
We are talking here about a young, wet behind the ears head coach who could only point to a season and half at Sheffield Wednesday as the highlight reel on his managerial CV.
Yes, the Bundesliga has a purpose built conveyor belt churning out bright young coaching talent and, true, Rohl worked under mentor Hansi Flick at both Bayern Munich as well as teaming up with him with Germany’s national team.
But, even so, a 12th placed finish from his one full campaign in the second tier of the English game simply should not have constituted an entry level into the discussions about becoming the manager of Rangers.
If anything, it was evidence of how grossly Thelwell underestimated the size and scale of the club and the task itself.
As was his initial decision to appoint Russell Martin on the back of a catastrophically bad campaign in the Premier League at Southampton.
Rangers manager Danny Rohl
It was only after Martin had been found desperately wanting that Rohl re-emerged, presumably straight from the list of potential candidates gathering dust in Thelwell’s top drawer.
And so now here he is, attempting to catch a break and prevent this season becoming the latest in a long line of trophyless, joyless campaigns for a club which clearly has ambitions of reversing the trend.
American owner Andrew Cavenagh did not sanction the spending of £40m in the transfer market just to end up back at square one, with nothing to show for it.
There remains a chance that Rohl can reward the chairman’s faith by returning the club into the riches of the Champions League next season but, in order to do that, he’ll have to find a way of outmanoeuvring and out-thinking two of the most experienced managers in the business. All in the space of these next seven days.
O’Neill got away with one in Leith on Sunday but, at the age of 74, he realised long ago that the more he practises the luckier he gets.
Yes, the first challenge Cavenagh would have set for Rohl would have been to close the gap on their closest rivals. And, with Rangers firmly positioned in Celtic’s wing mirror, there’s no doubt that this mission has been accomplished.
But that’s also largely attributable to the month that was spent in reverse gear with Wilfried Nancy at the wheel.
Regardless of that French fever dream, Rohl has probably done enough to be given Cavenagh’s confidence to go again in the summer, no matter how this next week or so might work out.
But he’ll have to learn from the mistakes that have been made along the way – both in selections and tactics – if he is to convince the entirety of the club’s support that he can become an experienced, winning manager over the seasons ahead.
Because if they are left facing another long summer with nothing tangible to celebrate then the goalposts will be shifted accordingly. And simply not being Russell Martin will no longer be enough to keep them all on board for the journey ahead.
