Danny Rohl and Russell Martin verdict shared by expert that’ll delight all Rangers fans
Danny Rohl will take charge of his first Rangers game on Thursday, with fans hoping the German will not continue where Russell Martin left off.
Martin was sacked by Rangers before the international break, after the Englishman had left the Gers 11 points off the top of the Scottish Premiership.
The former Southampton boss was hired in June, but struggled to encourage any positive results out of his team.
Rangers have now hired Danny Rohl, after a process that involved several names and took place over two weeks.
Up until just days ago, Rangers had looked set to hire Kevin Muscat, but the deal collapsed when reportedly in the final stages.
‘Adaptabiliy’ the key for Danny Rohl
Rohl had spent time working as an assistant coach to now Barcelona manager Hansi Flick, when the German was in charge of Bayern Munich and, later, Germany.
But the 36-year-old’s first managerial role came at Sheffield Wednesday, where he transformed a team that had looked certain for relegation into a side not too far from the Championship play-offs.
Rohl left the Owls by mutual consent in July, amid the financial troubles brought on by unpopular chairman Dejphon Chansiri.
But during Rohl’s time in the Championship, expert and content creator Jack Ward paid close attention.
“The one thing that I always thought about Danny Rohl, and the one thing I picked up a lot, was his adaptability,” Ward, who hosts The Jack Ward Football Podcast, exclusively told Ibrox News.
“I think that’s something that is really, really impressive. I think we’re quite boxed down by managers that come in, Rangers are probably quite unfortunate to have seen that recently with Russell Martin.
“Someone that has come in with a very strong identity and he was someone that did not budge from that, certainly didn’t adapt to the players that he had.
“I think that Danny Rohl is the opposite.”
‘He’s fantastic at understanding exactly the tools that he has in front of him’
As Ward explained, Martin often looked to be in complete denial over the failure of his system.
The Englishman has form – in his previous role, at Southampton, the manager refused to avert from his system of build-up despite the Saints being caught out time and time again.
But Ward has explained that Rohl is well aware of the importance of playing a system that suits the players at his disposal.
“I think sometimes why it’s quite challenging to look at the details with Danny Rohl, is because he’s actually a fantastic manager at understanding exactly the tools that he has in front of him,” Ward said.
“If you look at what he did at a Sheffield Wednesday team that were massively restricted, they had both hands tied behind their back.
“They weren’t really able to spend, and bring in the players that he wanted to, the players that he did bring in were not ones that he could spend a lot of money on because we know what was going on there.
| Sheffield Wednesday | 2024-25 |
| Points | 58 |
| Goals | 60 |
| Expected goals (xG) | 63.2 |
| Conceded | 69 |
| Expected goals against (xGA) | 63.5 |
| Average possession | 44% |
“And he still got a really really functional team, and like you say, he’s still a manager that, even with all of those issues that they had, still played a really, really good brand of football.“
If it was Martin comparisons that Rangers fans were concerned about when it comes to Rohl, they certainly need not worry.
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