There’s been a lot of talk lately about confirmation bias, and whether it colours how we judge a new Rangers manager. Truth is, I don’t think that’s the main problem when a new gaffer walks in the door. If anything, a managerial appointment usually comes with a clean slate and a strange kind of collective reset. Even the folk who were dug in on one opinion tend to soften it, because a fresh start feels like exactly what the club needs.

That “new broom” effect is real. We’re desperate for success, desperate for change, and those emotions can override a lot of pre-set thinking. You’ll always get exceptions, and Russell Martin is a name that gets used when people want to argue that some appointments arrive with baggage already attached. But most of the time, a new manager is one of the few moments where Rangers supporters are actually willing to wait and see, at least for a wee while.

The real problem: instant gratification

The bigger issue is something else entirely: the need for instant gratification. Rangers are a historically successful club, and that history is both a blessing and a curse. It builds standards, but it also builds a belief that everything should click immediately. A new signing should be flying from week one. A new manager should take a group of underperforming players and, somehow, turn them into peak versions of themselves overnight.

And when that doesn’t happen? The verdicts come thick and fast. A player’s labelled a flop. A manager “doesn’t get it”. It becomes less about what’s happening on the pitch and more about the fear that we’ve wasted time again.

Social media speeds up the cycle

Years ago, that mood still existed, but it travelled differently. It was muttered in the stands, debated in the pub, simmering until the next game. Now it’s instant. Social media turns every poor touch into a referendum, every dodgy half-hour into a career assessment. It’s not that criticism is wrong, it’s that the timeline is brutal. There’s no settling-in period allowed, because the conversation never pauses.

That’s especially true when expectations are sky-high. When a player is talked up as a real quality addition, any dip below that standard feels worse than it should. Psychologically it’s a “negative expectancy violation”, and Rangers fans know the feeling: you’re not just disappointed, you’re confused and annoyed because it doesn’t match what you thought you were getting.

Why Danny Röhl needs breathing space

I’ve got a worry that this could happen with Skov Olsen if his start isn’t electric. Not because he can’t play, but because the reaction might be disproportionate. If Rangers are serious about building something, then patience can’t only apply when it suits us.

And here’s the slightly grim hope: if Martin and Thelwell have been as poor as some feel, it might actually lower the temperature enough that Danny Röhl gets the time required to steady things and improve the squad properly. It’s not a glamorous way to buy patience, but at this point you take it wherever you can get it.

Written by Angus1812: 18 January 2026

Tags: transfers