Danny Rohl must take clear Rangers stance as stunning Celtic stat emerges days before Old Firm clash
Danny Rohl faces the biggest test of his Rangers tenure so far in the form of Sunday’s Old Firm derby.
The German has guided his team to victory in both of his first two Premiership games in charge, but this weekend’s clash will pose a totally different challenge to anything that he has ever experienced before.
Rangers and Celtic will go head-to-head in the semi-final of the Premier Sports Cup, with the winner progressing to the final at Hampden Park on 14 December.
Rohl faces a difficult task on his hands as he prepares to take his team to Parkhead on Sunday, and the scale of the test for the Gers has just become even more daunting at the worst possible time.
Attack to be best form of defence for Rangers amid eye-catching Celtic stat
Danilo scored the winner for Rangers against Hibernian on Wednesday night, and the Brazilian will need to be at his best once again this weekend if his team are to come away with a positive result.
Celtic have been enduring their own mini-crisis so far this season, which culminated in Brendan Rodgers resigning as manager this week, but they still sit second in the Premiership table at the moment.
Martin O’Neill took temporary charge of the team for the first time in their midweek league fixture, and promptly delivered a resounding 4-0 win over Falkirk.
The 73-year-old’s stunning return to the Celtic dugout saw his team create a staggering xG of 4.48 throughout the game, the highest total of any team in a single Premiership match this season, according to OptaJoe via their X account.
The timing of that performance could not have been worse from a Rangers’ perspective, but it is already clear how Rohl and his men can counteract that attacking threat for their hosts.
The Bhoys had shipped 10 goals in their last five competitive games prior to their win over Falkirk, which highlights the weaknesses that are there to be exploited by the Gers this weekend.
With that in mind, Rohl may be best served taking the stance of attack being the best form of defence on Sunday, rather than trying to sit in and contain Celtic.
Danny Rohl will be fuelled by Martin O’Neill’s recent comments
O’Neill blasted Rangers shortly before Rohl’s appointment, as he bemoaned the fact that they turned back towards a manager who had initially turned them down earlier in their search for an appointment.
“It’s so ridiculous,” he said on talkSPORT (20 October), in reference to the move back towards Rohl.
“Rangers have been in decline now for quite some time and look as if they’ve no way of getting out of it.”
While that criticism was more aimed towards the club than the German himself, it should provide him with all the motivation that he needs ahead of Sunday’s game, given that O’Neill insinuated that he doesn’t think he’s capable of turning Rangers around.
The 36-year-old will surely be fired up to get one over his opposite number after those comments, and if he can translate that desire across to his group, then Rangers could be a very dangerous prospect for Celtic this weekend.
Old Firm derbies hardly need anything extra to stoke the fire even more than normal, but that is exactly what has happened over the last few weeks.
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