Will the start of a new era off the park lead to one on the field for Rangers?
On Monday, it was announced, somewhat out of the blue, that general manager Patrick Stewart and athletic director Kevin Thelwell had been fired, just weeks after being publicly endorsed by Andrew Cavenagh and other members of the 49ers Enterprises.
Thelwell and Stewart oversaw the hiring and rapid dismissal of Russell Martin, as well as the appointment of his successor Danny Röhl, with the power vacuum upstairs likely to see the German head coach having a fairly significant say when it came to January’s recruitment.
Before the transfer window opens, Rangers still have eight matches to play, with Röhl still trying to build a cohesive team from the hodgepodge squad he inherited, but which important recruit should find himself on the bench against Falkirk on Sunday?
Danilo’s continued poor performance
The Rangers have signed many players who haven’t lived up to their price tag in recent years, with Danilo at the top of the list.
Since arriving from Feyenoord in the summer of 2023 for a fee of £6 million, the Brazilian striker has made just 67 appearances for the Light Blues due to injury problems.
However, when he is on the pitch he is not up to standard either, scoring just 15 times for the club, including three this season, putting in a very disappointing performance in Thursday’s 1-1 draw against Braga, as shown in the table below.
|
Danilo’s stats vs. Braga |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Statistics |
Danilo |
Match ranking |
|
Shots on target |
1 |
3rd |
|
Expected objectives |
0.15 |
6th |
|
Successful dribbles |
2 |
7th |
|
Precise passes |
14 |
18th |
|
Pass accuracy % |
71% |
17th |
|
Keys |
34 |
18th |
|
Statistics via SofaScore |
||
As the table shows, Danilo had little impact on the evening’s proceedings.
His big moment came just after the half-hour mark, played in from the back by Mohamed Diomandé, but firing meekly straight at Lukáš Horníček, lacking any semblance of confidence or belief, never seeming to believe he was going to score.
In the Brazilian’s defense, he was deployed out of possession on the left wing. With that in mind, Röhl will surely have to debut his forgotten special young talent when Falkirk visit Govan on Sunday.
The Rangers youngster with an exciting future ahead of him
Surprisingly, after 26 matches this season in all competitions, only two Rangers players have scored four or more goals, namely Djeidi Gassama and James Tavernier.
Just below them with three goals is Findlay Curtis, despite having barely played in three months.
The teenage academy graduate made his senior debut against Fraserburgh in the Scottish Cup in January but was one of the stars of Martin’s ill-fated tenure, scoring three times before August 24.
The pick of the group was this rocket to secure a 2-0 victory over Panathinaikos in a Champions League qualifier in July.
In total, Curtis has seen 244 minutes of action this season, but only 17 minutes have been played since the start of September, failing to feature at all in 12 of Rangers’ last 15 matches.
Röhl made a nine-minute appearance for him in the defeat to Roma earlier this month, the only time he has been seen under the new manager.
Despite this, Football Talent Scout’s Jacek Kulig says he has an “exciting future ahead of him”, while Kai Watson says he “looked really bright” whenever he was called upon.
Curtis’ direct dribbling and fearlessness is something Rangers are sorely lacking, especially with Mikey Moore currently sidelined, while fellow wingers Oliver Antman and Thelo Aasgaard simply don’t offer enough.
So, with games against Falkirk, Dundee United and then Kilmarnock coming up, Röhl must surely reinstate Curtis, or risk seeing him become the latest Rangers youngster forced to leave in search of first-team opportunities.
Forget Djiga: Rohl must hoe the flop of Rangers who lost the ball every 2 touches
After Rangers’ 1-1 draw against Braga in the Europa League at Ibrox on Thursday, which flop should eliminate Danny Röhl who was even worse than Nasser Djiga?
