- Danny Rohl criticised Rangers players over ego and mentality concerns before facing Celtic.
- Rangers boss blamed “old habits” for second-half collapse against Hearts at Tynecastle.
- Head coach demanded greater consistency and stronger teamwork from his squad
Rangers head coach Danny Rohl has criticised the egos of some players within the club ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm clash at Celtic Park.
The German boss was asked about his current squad and if they were playing for themselves ahead of the match with Celtic.
Following Monday’s defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle, the tie with Martin O’Neill’s side is more about pride than the title race, with the Gers seven behind the Jambos with three to go.
Danny Rohl calls out Rangers’ egos
“It’s always about team first. I think team first means club first, means Rangers first,” said Rohl when he was asked about issues with ego.
“It’s never about me or myself. It’s always about the team.
“This is what we have to live every day.
“This is also a big part for the next step. It’s about the team.
“You can just survive in some difficult moments as a team, not alone.”
The question referenced comments from Rohl’s predecessor Russell Martin.
The former Scotland defender slammed his side after an opening day draw away to Motherwell for their egos.
“Too much ego, too much self-preservation, and you’re either all-in all the time or you’re not,” he said at Fir Park.
“If you’re not, you just won’t play very much.”
Old habits resurface
Rohl referenced some of the issues in the second half at Tynecastle as proof that those habits mentioned by Martin, had started to come back to the forefront.
Rangers were a goal up at half-time and in control, before a second half Hearts’ surge ended with them winning 2-1.
“In the second half, when it comes to some difficult moments, you have to survive, but then you have to come back to your strength and not drop back to old habits,” Rohl explained.
“This is the part where we have to improve consistency, 90 minutes, 100 minutes, and it gives us the success for the next season.
“You look the game back and then you find some answers.
“Sometimes they are very simple answers.
“It’s not about the shape or this or that.
“You find then some patterns, what we should not do.
“Some individual decision-makings where you think normally the players don’t do it.
“You see that we in some moments are too lazy to recover.
“We overplayed and we are working instead of, no, we have to defend now, we need a clean sheet.
“These are the things what we have to improve and this is what I demand.
“I was yesterday clear with the group.
“We showed direction on the training pitch, but it’s all about Sunday to bring it down on the pitch again.”
Read Rangers analysis
Sunday’s trip to Celtic Park now represents more than just another Old Firm encounter for Rangers.
It is an opportunity to see whether his players can finally shed the mentality issues that have repeatedly undermined them this season.
After public criticism of the squad’s decision-making, recovery work and tendency to fall back into “old habits”, the derby offers the clearest possible stage to prove they can respond.
With pressure mounting ahead of a crucial summer at Ibrox, Rangers must now show they are capable of matching their manager’s demands not just in spells, but across the full ninety minutes against their fiercest rivals.
