'Not Russell Martin': Danny Rohl answers burning Rangers question and sets ten-second challenge

There is usually much fanfare when a new manager is presented in front of his new public. But given where Rangers are right now, supporters can be forgiven if they are not as enthusiastic as Rohl would hope.

Some of the disillusioned fans were turned off the moment Rohl, most recently in charge of Sheffield Wednesday, was appointed. With Steven Gerrard and Kevin Muscat among the candidates the Ibrox hierarchy held detailed discussions with, they had their hopes pinned on one of those two.

Instead, they will have to do with Rohl. The 36-year-old German has a very different profile to the older and more experienced pair of Gerrard and Muscat. Critics claim that Rohl is too similar to his predecessor Russell Martin, who flopped spectacularly in his fourth months in charge of Rangers.

Martin and Rohl both coached at Southampton and managed in the English Championship. Only three years separate them in terms of age. They are both “modern-day” coaches, prepared to work in a sporting director structure. In terms of looks, they both have smart appearances, a good crop of hair and beards.

But Rohl rejects any notion of him being like Martin in a football sense – emphasising that the style of football he will adopt at Ibrox will be very different. “Yeah, I'm Danny Rohl, I'm not Russell Martin,” Rohl smiled.

“I think comparing coaches is difficult. Hopefully you will soon see which direction we want to play football.

“For me, every coach has his own opinion. I have my clear identity about how I want to play. Maybe we're similar, we have a background both in Southampton and maybe in the Championship, maybe this is the reason why people see this. But if you compare the styles, you will find a lot of different things.”

No immediate Rangers change

There was little change on Thursday night as Rangers slumped to another abject defeat, this time 3-0 away at SK Brann in the Europa League. Their performance in Norway was chastised not just by pundits but by the players involved. Midfielder Connor Barron admitted the players are already “in debt” to Rohl.

Young in age but experienced in terms of coaching with the German national team, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday, Rohl only had two full training sessions ahead of the trip to Bergen. He will have spent Friday and yesterday feeding more information into his players ahead of the Killie match. Rohl knows he does not have much time. Rangers are already 13 points off leaders Hearts in the title race.

“I think it's very important to understand in which areas we have to speed up, but I also like to score after ten seconds,” continued Rohl. “I think this is exactly the picture you should have in mind when you look in the future at games from Rangers and from my team.

“It's very important in the first ten seconds to score, if there's an opportunity where we should make a next pass. And then, if you have this mindset and you're prepared, the next action in transition moments, the first few are deep instead of backwards, and you go with a net and you travel as a team, then you can also risk passes in the deep areas, because you are prepared for the counter-passing.

“I think this is a big, big part of what we have to bring into this mindset. For me, ball possession is not everything. For me, it's about chances and goals, and for this, you need a direction that's forward instead of backwards.”

One of the criticisms of Martin’s team was that they were too ponderous and passive. Rohl does not immediately come across as a shouter – but chairman Andrew Cavenagh promised that Rangers fans will see “an edge” from their new head coach. Rohl was keen to explain his football background and what has led him to Ibrox.

“I think my background is very easy,” he explained. “I come from a worker family, and I learned very early how you can move forward in your life – it's about hard working.

“I think over the last years, I've worked very hard to come to this point. I think this is a little bit also my mindset, and what I want to try to bring to the players. First, it's about hard working. Then, of course, with my background, the tactical understanding.

“It's very important for me to have not just one match plan A. For me, it's always important to have plan B and C, because I know in modern football, you cannot have just one way to play. If you want to win games, especially in this competition, all four competitions, I think this is very important.

From zero to the Champions League

“And I think the third part is, with all the experience from the different steps I made, when you look a little bit, Leipzig was from zero to a Champions League. You improved something, you learned a lot about structure, have a scouting direction, have a clear identity I want to play.

“Now, two times I was in a relegation fight, one time with a Premier League club, one time with a Championship club. Then, of course, we come to Munich, and for me, it was very impressive to see players in every single training session. To see players, they were still hungry for every win, and I think this is very important.

“If you work with players, especially in such big clubs, you need this mindset. Every training game is also a game we want to win, because if you do this, then you bring this mindset to the pitch.

“In one of my experiences, we won 4-0 in Rome in a Champions League match, and there were some players who were not happy because we didn't play well. This mindset is what really influenced me. It's always about more and better and improvement.”

Rohl will have to work with what he has for now. Rangers cannot bring in new players until January. Some would see the job as a poisoned chalice. He was asked whether what happened with Martin, and how the abuse got so personal, put him off moving to Ibrox.

“I’m a guy who always sees the opportunity and not the risk,” was Rohl’s considered answer. “I see this step as a big, big opportunity to be successful and to win titles. For me there was not one question mark to come here about these things.”

Rohl can only hope his Rangers players feel the same.