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No football club paralysed by fear over the impact of decision-making can progress. Rangers’ leadership team are permanently scared; of getting it wrong, of antagonising supporters, of their own shadows. So little of what emerges from Ibrox feels decisive.
Had Rangers believed more than a fortnight ago that Danny Röhl was the man to remove them from on-field doldrums, they should displayed the courage of their convictions. Röhl could have been in situ within 24 hours of Russell Martin’s departure. Rangers have been longtime admirers of the 36-year-old German, who was available, and could have sold his arrival as something that should have happened when they instead turned to Martin after a recruitment drive that rumbled on for months. Röhl is a highly rated coach who has a solid enough reputation to be spared ridicule. Comparisons to Martin are unfair.
Rangers had no reason to be reactive as opposed to proactive, given Martin’s fate was realistically sealed long before his sacking. The former Southampton manager would never recover from a 6-0 trouncing in Bruges in late August. Martin’s was an utterly shambolic Rangers team.
Instead, Rangers’ executives were spooked over how an agitated fanbase might react to Röhl. A supposedly urgent process lasted 15 days, during which further Scottish Premiership ground was lost. Röhl does not hold the star appeal of Steven Gerrard. He does not have the club connection or tough-nut reputation of Kevin Muscat. Gerrard flew in from Bahrain with the intention of taking over. Muscat was keen to leave Shanghai Port for Glasgow. Both backed out of discussions, causing embarrassment, before Röhl took the call. Rangers whispered the timing was wrong for Gerrard and that they were unwilling for Muscat to finish the season in China. This was unconvincing stuff from an unconvincing regime. It also places Röhl in an invidious position: that of third choice.
Far too little is known about Rangers’ American ownership group beyond the headline involvement of 49ers Enterprises. Its early months in control have been muddled, indecisive and showing a lack of comprehension of sporting environment. It is not as simple as throwing money at the Rangers project, as plenty others have found to their cost.
Röhl, in his apparent certainty that Muscat was being appointed, declared himself out of the running to succeed Martin. It was difficult to keep track. “With Danny at the helm, we intend to compete through every minute on the pitch in all competitions,” said the Rangers vice-chair Paraag Marathe on Monday. They tossed away 90 of them, two days earlier, while drawing 2-2 with Dundee United under the guidance of the Under-19 manager.
Rangers’ attempts to spin this situation fools nobody; their managerial hunt has been a fiasco. Including, perhaps most pertinently, because there is next to nothing linking Gerrard, Muscat and Röhl. One out-of-work manager who knows the domain from a past tenure, another whose star is high amid ongoing success in Asia and a youngster Rangers are essentially taking a gamble on while maintaining their ethos of club structure. Gerrard and Muscat would have demanded far more control of football operations than Röhl will expect. Röhl has no working knowledge of Scotland, which has fatally undermined Rangers managers in the recent past.
“He has worked in some of the most demanding football environments in the world, where winning is the only expectation,” said Kevin Thelwell, the sporting director. “We believe that background has prepared him for Rangers.” This touches upon Röhl’s time as a coach at Bayern Munich and the German national team. What it does not explain is why Röhl was not in huge demand upon summer departure from Sheffield Wednesday. His 89 games in Yorkshire represent a strong enough body of work from which elite clubs could act.
The Rangers post in present circumstances is not an appealing one. Thelwell thought it wise to publicly trumpet a £20m summer net spend, on individuals who look as if they lack the physical and mental capacity to succeed in Scotland. Rangers adopted a lazy signing path, of English Championship level players, which has failed them before.
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Expectations remain huge despite more than a decade of false dawns. Supporters were right to express concern over the hiring of Martin, who never looked an appropriate fit, but the tone of that unrest soon became over the top. Managers commanding larger salaries and comfier lifestyles took note. Thelwell, who has appointed his son to a key recruitment role, and the chief executive, Patrick Stewart, find themselves firmly in the sights of protesting fans. If Röhl struggles, he will be viewed as a puppet for an unpopular hierarchy.
The saving grace comes across the city. Football in Glasgow is like that. Celtic’s fans are at odds with their board, Brendan Rodgers does not seem much of a fan of his paymasters either and a listless team are caught in the crossfire. Defeat at Dundee on Sunday means Celtic are eight ahead of Rangers; material but not insurmountable with 30 Premiership games to play. Hearts, who lead the pack, have not won the Scottish title since 1960.
Twenty-six years later, Graeme Souness became the eighth permanent manager in Rangers’ history. Rohl is No 21 (Walter Smith had two stints). Maybe Rangers will benefit from the law of averages. It is, however, that kind of roll-the-dice stuff.
