Danny Rohl makes ‘no illusions’ Rangers claim after Celtic collapse amid thoughts on ‘crucial’ VAR decisions

Rangers boss admits team looked vulnerable during post-split fixtures following Celtic loss

Rangers boss Danny Rohl admitted his side’s post-split vulnerability resurfaced as their Scottish Premiership title hopes came to a shuddering halt with a 3-1 defeat to Celtic.

Rohl saw his team’s title dreams officially ended at Celtic Park as a Daizen Maeda brace and a strike from Yang Hyun-jun cancelled out Mikey Moore’s early opener, condemning them to a third consecutive defeat in the split. Rangers are now confirmed to finish in third place.

In the aftermath of the defeat, sections of the Rangers fanbase called for a change in the dugout after his side’s catastrophic drop off in form, and while the German boss acknowledged their frustrations, he says he was never under any illusions of how difficult his task would be difficult at Ibrox.

“Yeah, if I’m honest it’s a tough one,” said an exasperated Rohl. “To come with a lot of confidence to this point. We were very ambitions for the split, and we were prepared. Then you go into the first game [and lose], and the second game, and you finally lose all three in the end. It is not enough for what we want.

“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. I’m at the front of my group, I have to lead them so I will take my responsibility at this moment, of course.

“It’s moments when we don’t make the right decisions. When you look back to some of our conceded goals then you see some patterns that we need to improve very quickly. In the first-half, I saw a group that was strongly connected. We scored before they got their equaliser and then I saw a team that was committed, which is what we need. But we then conceded a goal eight minutes after half-time.

“For the next ten to 15 minutes we could see a lot of energy in the stadium with our opponents having confidence. You have to come through this to take something. Sometimes it’s about having to suffer to keep it 2-1 as that means the game is still open. I can understand this [fan anger]. I’ll take the 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. I have never underrated the job here. This is a huge club, an ambitious club, there’s a lot of power, but this is general when you work for a big club.”

Rohl also shared his thoughts on referee Nick Walsh’s decision to not send off Celtic’s Alistair Johnston for a late tackle on Mikey Moore, while there was also controversy about Yang’s equaliser, where Benjamin Nygren appeared to be offside and in Jack Butland’s line of view. However, the goal was allowed to stand after a VAR check.

“I think, I have been here seven months, and I am not someone who looks for excuses for some decisions,” reflected Rohl. “I didn’t see it until now that there was maybe an offside situation because there was someone in front of our goalkeeper. The foul [from Johnston] felt on the pitch really aggressive, but I have not seen it again. Some other people make the decisions like this, and we cannot change it. If it’s the case that maybe it should be a red card, hopefully will take reasonability for this as well, because it’s crucial.”