It was back at the end of February that Danny Rohl thought he would try and play a few mind games with Martin O'Neill. It wasn't quite a haymaker or a verbal hand grenade Rohl was throwing in the direction of a man twice his age and ten times his elder in Old Firm experience, more subtle digs and jibes.
On the back of Celtic being knocked out of the Europa League away at Stuttgart, Rohl had questioned why O'Neill's team didn't go for broke despite winning 1-0 on the night in Germany. He also questioned O'Neill's team selection. These comments made for great headlines at the time, with Rohl shooting from the hip and speaking with the grin of a naughty schoolboy.
Who's laughing now? In four matches against O'Neill over the course of the season, Rohl has failed to win any of them. After this latest capitulation, this was an afternoon when the dying embers of Rangers' title challenge were finally extinguished.
Rangers' Collapse
Amid all the recriminations and inquests, Rangers fans will question where it all went so badly wrong after a promising middle part of the season under Rohl when they cut a 13-point deficit to just two points. The genesis can surely be traced to the 2-2 draw against Celtic at Ibrox, a match which saw Rangers inexplicably blow a two-goal lead. That was the day Rangers lost this league title. Mentally as much as anything, it was a mortal wound from which they never recovered.
It was in the build-up to that match that Rohl had made those comments about O'Neill. Yet, with two games left to play in his efforts to win the title, it is the 74-year-old who has had the last laugh. Rohl showed his inexperience when he made those comments. On the contrary, it has been O'Neill's maturity and wisdom which has dragged Celtic through this most intoxicating of seasons.
Managerial Future
There are some Celtic fans who feel that he should remain in charge for next season, especially if the trophy is draped in green ribbons next weekend. That's the great irony in all of this. There is probably a bigger number of Celtic fans who want O'Neill to stay than Rangers fans who feel the same way about Rohl.
Andrew Cavenagh cannot hide from this. The Rangers chairman has fronted up this season and spoken frequently about a wide range of topics. He has to come out and address the situation with the manager. Punters are now calling for Rohl to be shown the door in the summer, such has been the extent of the collapse over the past couple of months. Cavenagh has to come out and explain the rationale and justification for sticking with a manager who blew a brilliant chance to win the title on the back of a £12 million spend in January. Or, alternatively, he and the Rangers board have to hold their hands up and admit that they have made another mistake, just as they did with Russell Martin.
That still feels unlikely. They will want to give Rohl the benefit of the doubt and the chance to start afresh with a full pre-season under his belt. But, in the eyes of supporters, his card is now marked. Winning at Parkhead and derailing Celtic's title bid was all Rangers had left this season, but it was a task which proved well beyond them.
Controversial Refereeing Decisions
When the dust settled at Fir Park last night, it looked like the non-award of a penalty to Hearts winger Alexandros Kyziridis could well be the most controversial refereeing decision of the weekend. Yet, with an Old Firm clash still to come, perhaps it was foolish to make such assumptions. Midway through the first half, Rohl was left nursing a similar sense of injustice to that of Derek McInnes.
After Luke McCowan had split Rangers wide open with a lovely reversed through ball, Arne Engels squared it for Yang Hyun-Jun to tuck it beyond Jack Butland. That Benjamin Nygren was in an offside position was beyond dispute. Was he impeding Butland or blocking the goalkeeper's line of sight? Was Butland likely to make the save in any case? After looking to the replays, the decision from VAR John Beaton was probably not. But it was far from certain. Nothing was certain. The only thing that was certain was Nygren standing in an offside position right in front of Butland.
The officials based their decision on the balance of probabilities. For Celtic, it was a moment of immense good fortune. An equaliser, a way back into the game. Rangers were well within their rights to hold a sense of grievance, but it was no excuse for the way they simply fell to pieces in the second half. Again.
Captain's Struggles
In moments of adversity, managers often rely on their captain to dig them out of a hole and rally the troops out on the pitch. Rohl cannot do that, for it is his captain who is so often at fault when things go wrong. This was another chastening Old Firm experience for James Tavernier. The departing skipper may be thankful it is his last.
Tavernier did not do anywhere near enough to stop Kieran Tierney from getting to the bye-line and crossing for Maeda to make it 2-1. Cue the usual Rangers implosion. Maeda's acrobatics made it 3-1 and Rangers' race was run. In the space of four second-half minutes, they had rolled over and surrendered.
Tavernier was also given a standing ovation when he was taken out of the firing line and subbed off midway through the second half. He will leave the club in the summer. A Rangers legend? Even the suggestion he could merit such status is laughable. How standards have fallen.
Humiliation for Rohl
This was humiliation for Rohl. If Rangers were embarrassing on the pitch, that was nothing compared to the personal mortification suffered by the manager. Some 60,000 fans chanted his name at full-time to the tune of Daddy Cool by Boney M. Rangers will finish this season in third place. If the club are serious about moving forward, this can be no endorsement of the current manager, no matter how bad things were when he arrived.
