The Ibrox boss is facing rising criticism with their Premiership title challenge hanging by a thread
There are certain risks behind every major appointment.
So when Danny Rohl got the job at Ibrox back in October the obvious question mark was hanging over his relative lack of managerial experience.
So here’s the good news where Rangers are concerned. Danny will have learned more over these last six months than he would have done in three years at almost any other club. Maybe more than he has in his whole career up until this point.
Monday night at Tynecastle was obviously one lesson he would rather not have had to experience. The opening post split defeat at home to Motherwell was another bitter pill to swallow.
And now, as a result of those two losses, he’s finding out what life is all about in this part of the world when demands and expectations are not met.
It won’t be nice for him. And I’m afraid there’s no way for him to avoid it either.
He’ll know what people are saying and writing about him and he’ll probably be a little surprised by a lot of it given how much good work he had done just to drag this team of his into a title fight, having picked them up off the floor at the wrong end of the table
He’s been given a lot of praise and respect for managing to turn the season around.
But, now that it all seems destined to end in disappointment again for my old club, he’ll have to realise that the criticism he’s getting right now is just part of the package. What he shouldn’t do is take any of it personally.
Yes, it’s harsh, I know. But this is Rangers Football Club. And the demands that come with the badge on that jersey will never, ever change.
If you happen to be in charge of the team at the end of a trophyless season then you’re going to get it from all angles. I should know, I was there myself this time last year.
But, no matter if you think it’s fair or not, you simply have to accept that the fans feel they have been let down because they can never accept anything less than first place.
That’s precisely what makes this club so special – and what makes the job of leading it such a privilege and an honour
Yes, in the bad times, that passion can boil over into anger and retributions. But, believe me, it’s all worth it when you get to go through the good times.
Passions run high, expectations are high, demands are high. It was like that 30 years ago and it’ll be the same 30 years from now.
Danny will still be getting to grips with all of this because, let’s be honest, it’s all new to him. This is all uncharted territory for him and people need to understand that.
I’ve seen a lot of people saying he took too long to respond to the changes Derek McInnes made at half time and they’re using that as a stick to beat him with.
But they’re forgetting about the changes he made to turn the result around at Falkirk just a couple of weeks ago and the changes he made against Motherwell to get them back in that game.
But, again, that’s just the way it is in Glasgow. It changes for no-one.
I’m sure he’ll take a step back once the season is over and he’ll go through where it went right, where it went wrong and how to make sure he’s ready for the challenge ahead.
But I promise you this, no matter what the future holds for him, he’ll come out of this first season as a better, more rounded and experienced manager because of it. Life at Rangers is life in the fast lane.
I’m also sure that, right now, he’ll be entirely focussed on what is still to come over the next 10 days, starting with Sunday’s derby against Celtic at Parkhead.
Look, I know the supercomputer now gives Rangers just a one per cent chance of winning this season’s title over the final three games, which is not great odds.
But I’ll tell you this much, if I was inside that dressing room I’d be clinging on to that one per cent chance for dear life right now. And that’s the way Danny will be looking at it too.
It’s really quite simple. Go out there and win all three of the remaining fixtures, starting at the home of your rivals.
If that’s not enough then so be it. The bottom line is, you’ve got no-one else to blame for that than yourselves.
But what you don’t do now is start rolling over and feeling sorry for yourselves just because you’re coming under a bit of heavy fire from the fans.
These players need to accept that they have failed to deliver. And they have to have a raging fire in their bellies to go out there and do something about it.
Beating Celtic won’t make up for the recent disappointments but it would be a good start. And no, it’s not a question of doing that just to help Hearts win the title. It’s about doing it for your own professional pride, for the shirt you’re wearing and for the people it represents.
All the old questions are being asked again about the mentality of these players and Danny has defended them in public, like any good leader of men has to do.
But it’s hard not to see it any other way because time and again, this team has failed to deliver what is expected of it.
If that criticism stings then, good. It should. It’s supposed to.
I know from my own playing days that it hurt like hell any time you went on holiday knowing you’d let people down. Even in seasons when we had won just one trophy, I’d be eating myself up inside, desperate to get back to pre-season so we could put things right.
The good news for Danny and the players is they have a chance to do something about it on Sunday. Then they have to make sure they finish strongly by picking up six points from six against Hibs and Falkirk.
It probably won’t make a damn bit of difference in the final analysis but at least they can bring the curtain down on the campaign with their heads a little bit higher than they were when they left Tynecastle on Monday night. It’s the least they can do for themselves and for the club.
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