Credit: Imago

James Barker

Mon 11 May 2026 12:34, UK

Emmanuel Fernandez has apologised to Rangers fans in an honest interview after Gers’ Scottish Premiership title hopes ended against Celtic.

Rangers’ 2025-26 season has now unfortunately been defined by a three-game stretch where Danny Rohl‘s side have failed to pick up a single point.

The Motherwell defeat was a setback, Hearts dealt a major blow, and Celtic put the final nail in Gers’ title coffin.

Undoubtedly, there will be an inquest into what and why things went so badly wrong for Rohl’s side over the last three matches, and that could indeed end with the German coach losing his job at Ibrox.

Attentions will now turn to the summer transfer window, and Fernandez has now proven why top clubs are reportedly chasing his signature, and it’s not just for not just his class on the pitch.

What has Emmanuel Fernandez said on Rangers’ title collapse?

Fernandez has admitted he’s happy at Rangers, amid significant transfer talk in recent months surrounding clubs such as Arsenal and Chelsea monitoring him ahead of the summer.

The £3.5million signing from Peterborough United at the start of this season has been a revelation in Glasgow, enjoying one of the most impressive debut campaigns in recent Gers memory.

He’s bagged five goals from 25 Scottish Premiership appearances this term, and has proven himself to be an excellent ball-playing centre-back who gets Gers playing forward, as well as winning the majority of his duels.

Because of this, it won’t come as any surprise if some big-money offers land on Rangers’ desk for the Nigerian international over the coming weeks, but it’s not just his on-field quality that is sure to have caught the eye.

Indeed, as shown in a revealing interview with the Rangers Review following the defeat to Celtic, the 24-year-old has displayed his maturity and leadership levels, fronting up to a lack of fight in the squad.

“I couldn’t pinpoint an issue,” Fernandez said when quizzed on an explanation for the post-split collapse. “I just feel like maybe we needed to have a bit more fight. I can’t say we have been unlucky.

“I can take stick for it because there are certain moments I probably should have defended better, but there is nothing I can really say about my teammates. I will probably just look at myself if anything.

“I feel that, as a young team if we are going to grow, if you are going to struggle you stick together and all defend together. Then, when you come out of it, you have opportunities to score. That is something we have to improve on.

“I obviously apologise to the fans first and foremost. I feel like there are still a lot of strong players here, young players.

“They are going to be in their second season and now they can show they are really worth it in their second season and they are going to fight.”

To show such self-awareness and honesty like this, shows why he’s being tipped for a big move, as this interview could’ve been taken by far more senior members of the squad, but instead, the young defender showed he’s a leader.

Fernandez is backing Rohl for Rangers success

With Rangers now losing three-straight league games for the first time since 2000, questions are now being asked over Rohl’s suitability to lead Gers into the future.

However, speaking in the same interview with the Rangers Review, Fernandez has come to the support of the Rangers boss, and is backing him to deliver success at Ibrox moving forward.

“I don’t look in to what fans say about the manager, but I know about the manager 100 per cent,” he continued.

“I know that he got us through moments in the season where everybody thought the season was over and there wouldn’t be a title race for us.

“I feel like maybe we went into it with the wrong mindset. I back the manager 100 per cent. It is the players who should maybe take it, because we didn’t do the job on the pitch and it is something that we should improve on.”

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