Why Rohl Deserves Time To Shape Rangers

Supporters are desperate to see attractive football, but there are good reasons why Rohl has started by making Glasgow Rangers harder to beat rather than trying to change everything overnight.

The comparison has already been made between managing Rangers and running a busy bar, and it is an apt one. Every regular thinks they know how to run the place better than the person actually in charge, simply because they have spent years standing at the counter. They are convinced the staff are paired wrongly, the roles behind the bar are all mixed up and that, if only they were in charge, everything would flow perfectly.

That is exactly where Danny Rohl finds himself right now. He has walked into a squad with obvious gaps in certain positions and limited genuine options in others. Rather than trying to transform everything in one go, he has taken the sensible route for a new manager at Ibrox and focused first on making Rangers difficult to beat. It is not glamorous, but it is usually the quickest way to steady results and strip some of the chaos out of performances.

When you are playing every few days, you are lucky to get a single full day on the training pitch between matches. That is nowhere near enough time to completely rewire an attacking structure, especially with players who have been through several managers, systems and messages in a short space of time. Defensive organisation and team shape can be put in place faster; detailed attacking patterns and relationships take weeks and months, not days.

That is why comments from the likes of Nicolas Raskin about being told to play with more freedom make sense. Rohl appears to be giving certain players licence within a framework, trusting their talent while he gradually layers in more structure further up the park. The approach is cautious, but not negative: solid first, then build.

Another major factor is confidence, particularly among the younger players. The previous regime under Michael Beale and then Philippe Clement’s successor, Martín, left the squad looking drained and hesitant, with several of the emerging lads seemingly stripped of belief. When that happens, even straightforward passes and movements look laboured. Restoring that confidence is not as simple as telling them to attack more; it takes a run of steady results and clear roles before players start to express themselves naturally.

Rohl is trying to do all of this while still being judged on every dropped point in a title race that allows no margin for error. If Rangers continue to collect something like 13 points from every 5-game block, then the manager’s logic is sound: the team will not be far away when the business end of the season arrives. The football might not yet be the full‑throttle, front‑foot style the support craves, but there are signs of a plan.

Supporters will always debate selections, partnerships and who should play in which role, just as the bar regulars moan about who stands where on a Saturday night. That is part of the culture at a club this size. The key just now, though, is to recognise the constraints Rohl is working under and the deliberate choice to build from defensive stability. If the points keep coming while the attacking side slowly improves, his approach will look far more like a carefully managed rebuild than caution.

Additional Insight

There is a long history at Rangers of new managers initially tightening up the team before adding attacking flair. At a club where the expectation is to win every week, that balance between style and substance is always under scrutiny. The current fixture schedule only heightens the challenge, with recovery, travel and preparation all eating into time on the grass.

The demand from the stands is understandable: Rangers supporters want to see dominant, front‑foot football at Ibrox, particularly against domestic opposition. Yet even the most attacking managers have relied on a solid base to sustain a title challenge. Clean sheets, compact shape and clear roles give creative players the platform to take risks higher up the pitch without leaving the team exposed. If Rohl can maintain results while gradually adding more fluency in the final third, the balance between entertainment and effectiveness will start to shift in the way the support is asking for.

Written by Angus1812 3 12 2025