It must be said Rangers’ manager Danny Rohl’s media performances in the last two weeks have been absolutely abysmal. Ally McCoist, Barry Ferguson, Kris Boyd and even good old Chris Sutton over ‘there’ have all been frankly slagging off Rangers’ boss for the comments that he’s been making. Ibrox Noise isn’t exactly thrilled with him either and we have to admit some of the faux pas that Rohl has been making in recent times scream not only of naivety and youth but also a lack of the obvious experience and a touch of ego.
Media mistakes piling up
It is very disappointing to hear a Rangers manager discussing things in the way that Rohl has been lately and even his most ardent backers have been questioning a few of his comments in the press. Obviously the first thing was being baited by a journo/Celtic player into criticising Celtic and their season’s performance. It is generally a complete no-no to talk about the other team and specifically their performances and results. You just don’t do that. Neither of the Old Firm ever does that and it’s a first. Rohl made a huge blunder by doing that by being baited. Unfortunately he didn’t back up his comments with a performance or result.
The first half claim
Then more recently he has argued that he wants to see the first 45 minutes last week at Ibrox repeated for the full 90 this time around. The problem there of course was that Celtic were far superior to Rangers in the second half than Rangers were to Celtic in the first. So Rangers would have to do even more than just what Rohl is demanding.
Dismissing the biggest rival
But then there is the most recent one. This one is a bit abstract and definitely not Rohl’s finest hour either. Baited by a journalist into whether or not Celtic were Rangers’ ‘toughest’ opponent instead of Rohl giving a diplomatic answer while respecting that fixture for the importance that it retains to both Rangers and indeed Celtic fans Rohl dismissed Celtic a little bit and said that they weren’t the most difficult opponent.
This is historically Rangers’ biggest rival by a mile. The goldfish bowl of Glasgow is a unique situation. Forget ego, both teams want to kill each other, they quite literally want to take each other out every single match. To then dismiss that as not that important really does show a complete naivety and a distinct lack of common sense. He did admit it was a ‘special’ match but he’d already undermined that.
Pressure beginning to grow
Rohl’s press performances as we say have been criticised by some heavyweights in the Rangers echelons. Ferguson, Boyd, even Ally McCoist have all had a criticism or two of some of Rohl’s comments. He is an outsider. Danny Rohl is a 36 year old rookie manager who has come into this for the very first time.
He hasn’t exactly shone in the press of late even although many fans would suggest otherwise. He has that strong backing of 90% approval as we revealed before but quite frankly he needs to do media training. It doesn’t matter what happens on the pitch in terms of this context. He needs to do media training to understand what you really should and should not say as a Rangers manager.
But then if you are going to shoot your mouth off in the way that Rohl has been doing then you have to win and he’s not doing that anymore. Indeed his performance in the last four or five or six weeks has been an atrocious one. Just three wins of eight. This is a very poor level and that’s not Rangers standard. It is up there with some of the worst stats in Rangers history quite frankly.
Forgetting
Rangers fans will mostly forget this if the team wins on Sunday. All it takes is backing up that BS in the press with a performance on the pitch. If Rangers go out of the cup Rohl may just find himself under a little bit of pressure for the first time.
We suggested that his job was safe and it is but the spotlight will be far more on him if he fails to deliver on his press conferences with a hugely badly needed victory.
Do not ever dismiss the importance of Rangers v Celtic
Do not ever dismiss the importance of Rangers v Celtic. Both sides never will. Whether we fans try to degrade each other as clubs doesn’t matter. We always want to win and it is the most important match in the world of either Rangers or Celtic.
To suggest that they are not our toughest opponent or not our most important opponent is absolute nonsense. It’s one of the most immature and naive things we have heard a Rangers manager ever say. Danny Rohl’s media performances must do better.