Rangers manager Danny Rohl has admitted that the responsibility for his team's dramatic collapse in the Scottish Premiership title race rests squarely on his shoulders. The 3-1 defeat at Celtic Park officially extinguished any hopes of Rangers winning the league, intensifying the pressure on the German coach.
Three consecutive defeats
Rohl has overseen three straight losses in the post-split fixtures, falling to Motherwell, Hearts, and Celtic. The defeat at the home of their arch-rivals followed a worrying trend of Rangers capitulating in the second half. A growing number of Rangers supporters are now calling for Rohl to be sacked, but the 37-year-old has vowed to continue and remains confident he will lead the club into next season.
Assessing the campaign after it was confirmed that Rangers will finish in third place, Rohl said: 'I can only speak about my time from October until now. My group did an outstanding job until the split. We took a lot of points, got closer, and worked really hard with energy. But then, at the most important time of the year, we didn't get the right results.'
Rohl takes responsibility
'I'm at the front of my group, I have to lead them, so, of course, I will take my responsibility at this moment. From the split, we'll take a lot of things. We'll take learnings, consequences, but then we move forward for the new season. I'm honest, it's a tough one. You come with a lot of confidence to a point. You're prepared and ambitious for the split. Then you lose the first game, the second, and finally you lose all three. It's not enough for what we want or where we want to go.'
Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh now faces a decision: either publicly back Rohl and issue a statement on the manager's future, or terminate his contract. Rohl insists he has earned the right to continue next season, stating: 'I never underestimated the job here. This is a huge club, an ambitious club, with a lot of power. Two weeks ago we were confident and looking forward to the split. But we have made mistakes which we have repeated. I deserve confidence to go forward and lead this group and lead the club in the future and bring titles.'
Fan discontent
Pressed on whether he understands the fans turning against him, Rohl said: 'In general, yes of course, I can understand this. I'll take all the disappointment and anger from the fans in the right way. I understand that if you come from a point in the season where you really feel and believe you can win something — then lose the next three games — of course, it's the right of the fans. I respect this and from this point we have to move forward.'
Rangers took the lead in the first half through a goal from Mikey Moore, before Yang Hyun-Jun scored a controversial equaliser. Benjamin Nygren was in an offside position in front of goalkeeper Jack Butland as Yang struck the ball, but was deemed not to be interfering with play. Alistair Johnston also went in late on Moore with his studs showing, but escaped a red card. Rohl was unhappy with those decisions but did not hide from the fact that his team were not good enough in the second half, as Celtic scored twice through Daizen Maeda to win 3-1.
'It's moments when we don't make the right decisions,' he added. 'When you look back to some of our conceded goals then you see some patterns that we need to improve very quickly. I am not a guy to make excuses for some decisions. What I heard so far, maybe there was an offside situation because they had someone in front of our goalkeeper. The foul [Johnston on Moore] on the pitch felt really aggressive. I have not seen it again but some other people have made the decision and we cannot change it now. Maybe if we watch it back, it should not be a goal and it should be a red card, then hopefully someone will take responsibility for it.'
