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Prior to becoming the head coach at Rangers, Danny Rohl gave a revealing interview which spoke to his work ethic and his willingness to stop at nothing to find solutions to problems.
As Sheffield Wednesday’s financial position grew bleaker by the day last season (they went into administration on Friday), the German often went without sleep to prevent his in-tray from giving way under the weight of issues.
You dread to think how much caffeine will have passed the lips of the 36-year-old by the time his side takes the field against Kilmarnock on Sunday. Seriously, where does he even start?
Russell Martin’s abysmal 123-day, 17-match reign has put Rangers in a hole deeper than the Mariana Trench.
The team has had more managers than league wins this season. As November comes into view, they are sitting in sixth place in the Premiership with a negative goal difference.
With a 9-1 humiliation at the hands of Club Brugge in the Champions League play-off still fresh in the mind, they have lost their three opening Europa League matches to average sides and are now propping up the 36-team section.
Danny Rohl got off to a losing start as Rangers manager with defeat in Bergen on Thursday
His side are rooted to the foot of the Europa League table after suffering a third straight loss
Rohl apologised to the large band of travelling supporters following the full-time whistle
Last season, which saw Philippe Clement holed beneath the water line when his side lost at home to Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup, was bad enough.
With Cyriel Dessers, Vaclav Cerny and Hamza Igamane no longer on the premises, Rangers have somehow managed to spend £20million net and get worse.
Martin is gone but, if anything, the level of anger among the fanbase has only increased over the past fortnight.
Footage of sporting director Kevin Thelwell and chief executive Patrick Stewart being verbally abused by supporters in Bergen Airport came three weeks after they were confronted in a hotel foyer in Graz.
There have been numerous dark chapters in the 13 years since Rangers hit the wall. Given the optimism which abounded when the American consortium bought the club in May, this one feels particularly grim.
Rohl has arrived on the scene with energy, drive and a fresh set of eyes. You feel he could also do with a magic wand.
The expectation that those fans who travelled to Norway would see some kind of new manager ‘bounce’ did not seem unreasonable.
Instead, what they witnessed was nothing short of a scandal. It’s not often that you can legitimately question the commitment and effort of professionals, but that accusation had considerable merit as SK Brann ran amok.
Rangers were accused of being 'outfought, outrun and outmuscled' by their opponents
A lack of ability is one thing. Yet since when did that prevent players from doing the hard yards, putting their bodies on the line and making life awkward for the opposition?
‘They were miles off it,’ said Ibrox legend Ally McCoist. ‘They were outfought, outrun and outmuscled. It was actually sad to watch.’
So feckless was the display (with the notable exception of Jack Butland) that it felt harsh to single out individuals.
Alas for Youssef Chermiti, that’s a fact of life when you have an £8m price tag on your back.
The striker’s attempt to head home a routine chance in Norway summed up where he is right now. Devoid of form or confidence, he looks completely lost.
His insipid performance further turned up the heat on Thelwell, two days after he put his neck on the line to claim Chermiti was ‘going to prove that he’s a very, very good player’.
In his previous post, Thelwell was involved in the deal to bring the Portuguese to Merseyside from Sporting Lisbon for £14m.
He didn’t score in two years for Everton and last netted for Sporting against Pacos Ferreira on May 3, 2023.
Youssef Chermiti has yet to justify the £8million spent to bring him to the club over the summer
What data did Thelwell use to justify such a gargantuan outlay from Rangers as a dependable scorer such as Dessers was being eased out of the picture?
After eight games for his new club, Chermiti hasn’t scored and doesn’t look like doing so. No manager can persevere with a misfiring player indefinitely.
It said much that Chermiti’s display almost became lost in the tidal wave of criticism which hit the players after the match.
Jayden Meghoma just doesn’t look up to the task. The same applies to Nasser Djiga and Oliver Antman. Mikey Moore has talent. It just doesn’t look like Rangers will see the best of it.
The most striking thing about the display, though, was how weak and ineffective the more experienced hands like Nico Raskin, James Tavernier and John Souttar were. Chief among his many problems, Rohl has a deficit of leaders.
‘It’s just a disgraceful performance, it’s as simple as that,’ reflected Tavernier.
‘All the years I’ve been here, the consistency of poor performance that we’re putting in, I’ve not experienced it before.
‘Some of us show our aggression after the games, after we get beaten — you expect all the lads to take that in, but we have to look at ourselves much harder.
Captain James Tavernier was at a loss to explain what went wrong against the Norwegians
‘We were just second best to first ball, second balls, not enough fight, and I shouldn’t be saying that for Rangers players — that should be the given.
‘It’s just far too easy at this minute playing against us. That’s the hurtful thing about this all. I’m raging.’
Rohl would have noted his skipper’s comments. He might even have been impressed with them.
For long-suffering fans, however, there was a wearying familiarity to them. How many times have they heard how ‘disappointed’ Tavernier has been? How many public apologies has he issued? This is a man who’s won just three major trophies in a decade.
On Thursday, he was miles out of position as a simple pass cut Rangers open moments before Brann edged in front. He was chasing shadows at their third goal too.
A year ago, Clement took the drastic step of dropping his skipper and Tavernier will probably admit that it did him no harm.
But with Max Aarons, another Martin/Thelwell signing who looks like he’s caught in the wrong movie, Tavernier’s position hasn’t come under any pressure.
He turns 34 next Friday. The half yard of pace he lost last season isn’t coming back.
He can rant and rave about the inadequacy of Thursday’s display until the cows come home, but he’s fooling no one. The truth is that he’s as big a part of the problem as anyone.
