The turnaround in a handful of Rangers players has been hard to miss. Not long ago, plenty of us were ready to write some of them off. Now? Different body language, different decisions, and a lot more belief in what they’re doing.

I’ll hold my hands up here. I was one of the ones thinking Moore might be better heading back to Spurs, and I wasn’t exactly desperate to see Aasgaard get another run in the shirt. Antman, too, is a funny one. On debut I thought, “Right, there’s a player.” Then he went through that spell where he looked like he didn’t want the ball anywhere near him. It wasn’t just a wee dip in form either, it felt like confidence had gone completely.

What changed? Management, plain and simple

For me it points straight back to the dugout. Martin’s way of doing things might have had a logic to it in his own head, but it looked like it was stripping players of their instincts. You could see lads taking an extra touch when they didn’t need it, passing up obvious forward options, or just playing like they were terrified of being the one who messed up.

That’s the thing with “philosophy” in football. It can give a team identity, but it can also box players in. If you’re constantly told to do things a certain way, you stop trusting what your eyes are telling you in the moment. And at Ibrox, if you hesitate, the whole stadium can feel it.

Danny has simplified the job and lifted them

Danny looks like he’s done the opposite. He’s given them confidence back, but also something just as important: permission. Permission to play in positions that actually suit them, to take responsibility, and to scrap for each other when it gets messy.

You can see a bit more fight about the group now. Not just in tackles, but in the way they react when something breaks down. There’s more talking, more covering, more willingness to make the run that helps a teammate even if it doesn’t get you a cheer. That’s how teams start to look like teams again.

This is why the manager matters

The truth is, management makes or breaks players. We’ve seen it first-hand. Confidence is fragile, and it spreads both ways. When it’s low, it infects everything. When it’s high, suddenly the same lads look like footballers again.

I’m hoping we keep building, especially as new signings get bedded in and the gaffer keeps driving standards. It’s not about getting carried away, it’s just recognising what’s right in front of us. Compared to a few months ago, it feels like we’ve got our swagger back. Long may it continue in the blue blue sea.

Written by Bunnet: 17 January 2026

Tags: transfers