Danny Rohl New Rangers Manager - Can He Bring Success?
Kai Watson 
The search for a head coach to replace Russell Martin at Rangers was, in truth, a bit of a disaster.
Steven Gerrard seemed to be the number one choice and even flew to London for talks with the owners. However, that deal broke down after talks with Patrick Stewart and Kevin Thelwell took place, that’s if the rumours are true, at least!
Then Danny Röhl was touted for the job and seemed a clear favourite, until Kevin Muscat’s name was thrown into the ring.
Not long after rumours of the club talking to the Shanghai Port manager came to light, it seemed that Röhl had ‘pulled out’ of the race. Was that because he told Muscat was getting the job? I guess we’ll never know.
Similarly to Gerrard, the ex-Rangers man was reported to have had positive talks until it came to talks with Stewart and Thelwell then, again, the move broke down.
To make it even more of a media circus, contradicting information was coming out from both Rangers camp and Muscat’s.
Word from the club was that he was unwilling to come straight away and wanted to finish the Chinese season to try and win another league.
It seemed clear from the beginning though that would be the case so why would talks have gone any further than the preliminary stage if it was an issue?
Muscat’s camp released info that the deal broke down due to the fact that he was unsure if he could work within the current recruitment structure, a ‘structure’ that fans have been heavily critical of given the money spent and the start to the season.
Then, on Sunday evening, various reports surfaced suggesting that Röhl was back in the race for the job and was set to be announced. It was a very interesting turn of events given that he had ruled himself out of the running just days beforehand.
Personally I’m not sure if that looks worse on Röhl himself or the club for the farcical head coach hunt.
Danny Rohl's Career So Far
Finally though, on Monday afternoon, Danny Röhl was confirmed to be Rangers new head coach but who is the 36-year-old and what qualifies him to be the club's latest manager? Well, for one, his coaching CV is excellent.
He started young in his coaching career and, per his Rangers TV interview, already has around 16 years of experience off of the pitch. He started out of RB Leipzig with the role of ‘head of youth game analysis’ before eventually supporting the management of the youth teams. His work there led to a promotion to the first team to be part of Ralph Hasenhüttl’s coaching staff and then followed the Austrian manager to Southampton when he went there.
In August 2019 though he moved to Bayern Munich to be Hansi Flick’s assistant and in their first season at the club they won the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and the Champions League. They retained the title the next season whilst also adding the DFL-Supercup, the UEFA Supercup and the FIFA Club World Cup, an excellent trophy haul in just two seasons!
Then, when Flick went to manage the German national team he took Danny Röhl with him again as his assistant and he was there until around September 2023 when he left and ended up getting the Sheffield Wednesday job around a month after that.
Hansi Flick, who famously transitioned from an assistant to a manager, and has had success with Bayern Munich and Barcelona in recent years really trusted Röhl, could the 36-year-old make a similarly successful transition?
Onto his time at Sheffield Wednesday and what he’s currently being judged the most on, this was his record during his 21 month tenure;
89 Matches
34W/19D/36L
1.36 Points Per Match
38% Win Rate
Now, without any sort of context, those numbers aren’t going to fill you with confidence, are they? However, when he took the job, Sheffield Wednesday were toiling and looked set to be relegated to League One and he saved them from that fate. Then the next season he managed a twelfth placed finish and even flirted with the Play-Offs with a squad that had no right to do that well.
Many will point to the fact that they lost more games than they won last season and finished on -9 goal difference but, as previously mentioned, that squad had nowhere near the same quality of the teams in and around them. That’s mostly because of the financial turmoil they find themselves in and a lot of that has to do with the owner Dejphon Chansiri.
The financial issues heightened over the summer and his position came into question, he missed the first two weeks of pre-season before returning to training on July 14th but before the end of the month he had left the club by mutual agreement.
Can Danny Rohl Succeed at Rangers?
What can Rangers fans expect on the pitch though? He’s credited as being an adaptable and pragmatic manager that has stated previously that players not playing with intensity is unacceptable, words that will be music to Rangers fans ears.
Adaptability is huge in management and particularly when you’re at a team that will dominate the ball domestically, different methods of creating and attacking are necessary but that’s one of the main areas that has been lacking this season.
Defensively Rangers have been poor but the lack of any kind of threat up top has potentially been the biggest concern this season and something Röhl will need to address very quickly. Here’s what he had to say in his first interview as head coach;
‘We have no time to waste, we start straight away. I respect that trust is earned and understand we have to give the supporters confidence in what we are doing by showing it on the pitch from the start. The expectations are huge and I love this challenge because I set high standards for myself and the team too.
Rangers is built on a tradition of hard work, unity and success - that is exactly what you will get from me and what I want my team to represent for all of you.’
These words are backed up by Barry Bannan who had this to say on his former boss to the Daily Record;
‘He’s built for the British game. A few weeks ago, he was going around clubs in America seeing how they work. Thomas Muller took him to Vancouver Whitecaps. He told me it was a lovely set-up but at the game, there was no real passion.
Danny loves passionate fans. That’s why he took to English football – and it’s another level altogether at the Old Firm.’
He wants to see passion on the pitch and in the stands, if he can get this group of players to show a level of desire that’s been missing so far this season then he may well manage to get that passion from the fans.
This isn’t Russell Martin V2, Röhl doesn’t have one set way of playing and isn’t a possession-based manager for the sake of it. Suggestions that he will just be a ‘yes man’ to the board also seem far afield given that he didn’t just stick around at Sheffield Wednesday when the chairman was messing him around.
Is this appointment a risk? Absolutely.
Am I positive it will work out? Absolutely not.
Thursday evening in Norway and Sunday at Ibrox were always going to be big games given how the season started but they represent a chance for Danny Röhl to show he can adapt and get the players to play for him. Through no fault of his own, he’s already on the back foot with a lot of fans, mostly due to the start of the season and the board's actions in recent weeks.
He needs to get this team winning games and quickly, do you think he can do it?
Rangers Odds - Next Two Games
Here's a look at what betting sites have available for Thursday and Sunday's games, Rohl's first two in charge as he looks to get off to winning ways.
Don't forget, Kai has his Scottish football tips live on site every week of the season, bringing you his best bets for the biggest games!
