I’m struggling to see what Zikos brings to Rangers right now, and it’s not even a subtle thing. One moment summed it up for me: trying to float a ball right across our own 18-yard area, it gets cut out, and he’s shaking his head then jogging. That’s not just a bad decision, it’s the reaction after it.

Zikos: it’s the risk, then the response

We all do that thing as fans where we give someone the benefit of the doubt because there’s a reason they’ve got a cap, or they’ve been involved at a decent level. With Zikos, I assumed there must be something there. Maybe there is in training, maybe he’s shown it elsewhere, but in a Rangers shirt you need to show it regularly.

It’s not about one intercepted pass. That happens. The issue is that at this club, the standard is your next action. Sprint to fix it. Take responsibility. Get yourself back in and make it right. If the body language is “oh well”, supporters will turn quickly, because we’ve seen that movie before and it never ends well.

And to be fair, it’s not all on one player. Rangers have been guilty at times of putting folk in positions where they’re forced into risky choices under pressure. But even then, you want a midfielder or defender who understands game management. When it’s in your own third, keep it simple. Live for the next phase.

Don’t kid yourself about “them lot”

I’m also not buying the idea that the other side are finished, with or without their manager. In this league, momentum swings fast. If they stick with what they’re doing, add a proper striker, and get bodies back, they’ve shown enough that if it clicks over the full 90 minutes they’ll start putting teams away again.

That’s not fear, it’s just honesty. The SPFL punishes slackness. If Rangers take the foot off it because we think the job’s done, we’ll pay for it.

What Danny Röhl did after the whistle mattered

The big positive for me was Danny Röhl getting the whole group, not just the players, but the staff as well, over to the supporters after the match. That stuff matters at Ibrox. You can see he’s trying to build a proper unit, and he genuinely looked like he was enjoying the fans’ reaction towards him.

There’s a connection being rebuilt there. We’ve all watched seasons drift when the place feels split. So when a manager makes a point of bringing everyone together, you notice it. If Röhl keeps that going, and players match that energy on the pitch, Rangers give ourselves a real platform to push on.

Written by bigbluejim: 4 January 2026

Tags: injury