Rangers player felt 'very disrespected' by Danny Rohl as lid lifted on broken relationship
World Cup squad member felt his treatment at Ibrox was ‘unfair’
Derek Cornelius has accused Rangers head coach Danny Rohl of disrespecting him and claimed the team was good enough to win the title.
The defender joined Rangers on loan from Marseille on transfer deadline day last summer and made 12 appearances before injuring his hamstring on international duty with Canada in November.
He returned to fitness in February but was sent to train with the youth squad following a breakdown in his relationship with Rohl and did not feature for the Rangers first-team again despite playing three times for his country after that.
“I felt very disrespected," said Cornelius, who is preparing to represent the co-hosts at the World Cup after being named in the Canada squad.
“I said to them, ‘I can help this team’ in some way, whether that’s starting, whether it’s five minutes to hold on to a lead, or whether that’s having a conversation with a guy – a younger player – saying, ‘Don’t worry about the pressure, just focus on your job.’ Whatever.
“But I wasn’t given a solid reason as to why I was not considered. It was tough. It was really tough. I was hoping the situation would change.
“Maybe if the manager saw the way I’ve been training for the last two, three weeks, he could have changed his mind, but it wasn’t the case and it’s disappointing.
“I honestly feel like we had enough talent and enough ability to go on and win a title.”
‘I just felt that was really unfair’
Speaking to Canadian broadcaster TSN, the 28-year-old went on to explain how he came to be frozen out of the team.
“I was out for an extended period of time, but excited to come back and was looking forward to it," he added. “There were no conversations between me and the manager during that time, which was fine.
“I think I came back into team training maybe twice or so and then after the second training, I was called into the manager’s office and he basically just told me that from now until the end of the season, you’re not going to be part of the squad.
“And I just felt that was really unfair. I felt like I deserved the opportunity to work my way back into the team.”
Cornelius is now turning his attention to the World Cup after putting his Ibrox woe behind him.
He said: “I injured my hamstring and I started laughing about the prognosis because I didn’t believe it would be for that long. But the doctor told me it was no joke and that was a tough one to hear.
“It was the biggest injury I’ve had in my career and possibly the most important year in my career, before a World Cup. To hear you’re going to be sidelined for so long, it was, it was hard, but I can only deal with what was in front of me.
“All my clubs came with their different challenges. I look back, and I say, ‘You know, you’ve been through this, this, this and this. You are going to get through this as well.’
“The World Cup at home means a different kind of pressure that we have to deal with. If we don’t get any points in the group stage it’s a big disappointment.
“And I personally like those expectations that are now being put on the team, because we’re finally getting recognised as a good team, as a solid team and we need to perform now.”
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