Are Rangers Somehow Back in the Scottish Premiership Title Race? Rocky Season Sees Ship Steadied

Rangers have had a truly abysmal Scottish Premiership season so far, and even the most ardent of bluenose would admit the same.

So when the statistics were laid bare by the Sky Sports graphic team during rivals Celtic’s late show against St Mirren in Paisley on Saturday night, it made for interesting reading for those same supporters.

Former boss Russell Martin endured what was a horrendous start to the league season and had the Ibrox outfit languishing as low as eighth in the division at one stage.

Martin’s tenure did not last long and he was sacked by the club who then admitted they had got his arrival wrong in the first place. It was a statement of acknowledgement that the fans had been spot on with their criticism.

Martin was binned and the likes of Steven Gerrard and Kevin Muscat were eyed for the job only for the pair of them to knock it back in unusual fashion despite meeting with the ownership group and having positive discussions.

Their withdrawals from the process came after a second round of interviews with the sporting director, Kevin Thelwell and chief executive Patrick Stewart and it felt to supporters that the two men running the club on a daily basis had spooked their best shot at climbing up the table and fixing the mess Martin had left.

As it transpired it was another coach who had initially turned down the job in Danny Rohl who would eventually be convinced to take on the project. And so far the German has proven himself to be capable and has helped guide his side to big wins in big moments to claw back some momentum as well as a barrel load of points.

But where do Rangers sit right now compared to Celtic and title hopefuls Hearts who, under Tony Bloom, still hope to shake up the Premiership and send shockwaves through the country.

We at FootballBlog take a look at the Premiership table from before Rohl arrived to now to analyse if the 36-year-old coach has really hauled his squad back into contention despite things looking seriously bleak as recently as October.

Rangers struggled under Russell Martin

Rohl took over a squad bereft of confidence who had at that stage, on October 20, had already had to deal with a number of off-field issues and controversies surrounding their club.

Martin had fallen out with Nico Raskin while the former Southampton and Swansea City head coach had also accused Hamza Igamane of refusing to come off the bench during one game before he was eventually sold less than a week later.

Results reflected the turmoil with Gers at the time sitting just three points ahead of rock bottom Livingston.

The Light Blues had only won once in their league outings – vs the Livi Lions – while drawing a whopping six matches and losing the rest.

The replacement coach knew what a massive job he had on his hands and explained at the time that there was “no time to waste” with the club at risk of a miserable term and falling well behind their rivals as well as the Jambos who had roared into a lead of their own.

Danny Rohl Rangers resurgence in Premiership

Rohl was never going to be able to change everything in a day but that’s essentially all he had before Rohl’s first game in charge away to Brann in the Europa League.

That was a sobering evening for the coach who watched his side lose convincingly, 3-0 in Norway, with little fight shown.

What followed in the Premiership, though, was improved performances even if only slightly. But the most important thing was three points and Rohl has ensured his team have picked up the maximum 12 since he joined.

Wins over Kilmarnock (3-1), Hibs (1-0), Dundee (3-0) and Livingston (2-1) have brought back fans to Ibrox as well as upped the confidence levels. And while it may be fair to say that the club have not necessarily blown their opponents away in these games, the results are all that matter.

The league is now the priority for Rangers, at least to try and bring some self respect back following their start. The Gers are out of the Premier Sports Cup after extra-time defeat to Celtic at Hampden. They are also toiling in Europe.

However they have brought the Hearts lead down to nine when it had been more. They now trail the Hoops by five points when it had been more. It could even have been just a two-point lead following Saturday night’s action but Celtic captain Callum McGregor saved his team with a stoppage time winner in Paisley.

Rohl has certainly steadied the ship in Govan but the hard work starts now that the club are back in joint third and building.

To think it realistic that they can still compete for the league trophy is naive at best, but their efforts should not go unnoticed in terms of hauling themselves back into a respectable spot when their early season form looked like a disaster was incoming.

What Rohl said about Rangers job

Rohl understood even at the time that he would have a lot of work to do. The quick fix was never plausible but he has been sharp in finding points.

“It is a huge privilege to be taking on the role of head coach at such an incredible club, recognised around the world,” he said when he was appointed.

“I know it has been a difficult start to the season, but there is still so much to play for in four competitions, and my staff and I will give it everything to reward the supporters and the club. We have no time to waste, we start straight away.

“I respect that trust is earned and understand we have to give the supporters confidence in what we are doing by showing it on the pitch from the start. The expectations are huge and I love this challenge because I set high standards for myself and the team too. I’m looking forward to meeting the squad and getting down to work.”