While Danny Rohl retains at least 90% of Rangers fans’ support, and regardless of the reasons which Ibrox Noise illustrated in that previous entry, nevertheless, a lot rides on Sunday. With Danny Rohl v Celtic having dropped two points incredibly against them at the weekend, there is no room for error this coming Sunday. Rangers will, of course, face Celtic once again at Ibrox, this time in the cup. And, of course, it will be the first time in almost a decade that the entire Broomloan will be filled with Celtic fans. Them’s cup rules. Consequently, Danny Rohl is now, for the first time, under a little bit of pressure. He has been getting forgiven for just about every mistake he has made. His approval rating confirms that.
No Room for Error
But should Rangers go out of the cup against Celtic again? Should Rangers lose to Celtic again? Should Rangers get simply a bad result against the old enemy again, especially at home? We do think that will put the pressure on Rohl considerably and we do not want that to happen. We want to get to the semi-final. Rangers need silverware this season, and it is looking very unlikely that it will be coming in the league. But under Rohl, who has a habit of mismanaging big games, we do suspect it is going to be a tricky one at best.
Tactical Concerns
Celtic will be all guns blazing and will have a much bigger backing in Govan than they did last weekend. This one will be a tough one, because Rohl got his management all wrong at the weekend. As we have said, the first half was not as strong as it appeared to be. The stats show Rangers’ superiority was nowhere near as strong as Celtic’s was in the second half. Martin O’Neill will be desperate to land silverware. He will be desperate to get something and win a trophy, given the fact that his club has been under pressure from those fans. Rangers at Ibrox in the cup would be the perfect chance for him to nail that, and Rohl, as a much less experienced manager, will have to be wary.
Semi Final or Questions
Many fans have complained, even those who back him, about his in-game management and substitutions. There is no doubt that very few of them are ever any good, and his response to opponents’ ascendancies is not good enough either. Either way, Rangers need to get to the semi-final. If Rangers do not manage to get to the semi-final, if Celtic are the team that go through, then once again Rohl has to be called into question. We are calling him into question a lot, and we have since his appointment, while not as vehement as we were about Martin. We still do not believe that Rohl is the right man, and we were against the appointment. But nevertheless, Danny Rohl v Celtic will tell us a lot about what this manager is capable of. He really needs to get it right.