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If Danny Rohl hadn’t been entirely certain of what he was getting into after agreeing to become Rangers’ new head coach, then he ought to be fully up to speed now.
The German built his reputation at Sheffield Wednesday as something of a firefighter, a battle-hardened figure capable of going in and salvaging seemingly hopeless situations.
That experience ought to stand him in good stead in the weeks and months ahead as he faces up to a lengthy and painstaking rebuilding job of a squad clearly bereft of quality and drained of all confidence.
Rohl had made the right noises at his official unveiling about wanting to get his tenure off to a positive start but instead he could only watch on despairingly as his new charges were efficiently taken apart by an opponent in SK Brann who took advantage of Rangers’ woeful defending and attacking impotence to win at a canter.
The Norwegians are hardly one of European football’s elite clubs - they’re also only third in their domestic division - but they didn’t have to be spectacular to roll over a Rangers side who lost their third successive Europa League match to slump to rock bottom of the 36-team league.
Progressing into the knockout stages already looks a mighty ask for Rangers, even with five matches still to play, after they failed to keep a clean sheet on the road for a 24th match in a row.
Brann celebrate after taking the lead through Emil Kornvig in the first half against Rangers
It was Danny Rohl's first match in charge of Rangers and it proved a difficult evening
Rangers were once again found lacking... and Rohl knows he has his work cut out
The home fans, proficient in English like most Scandinavians, taunted Rohl with a chant of ‘sacked in the morning’ and, while this loss can’t in any way be placed at the door of the new arrival, it was another reminder that removing Russell Martin as manager was never going to solve Rangers’ woes in one swift swoop.
It was the players who again let their club down, failing to implement the basics at the back and barely creating anything at the other end. There was no evident uptick in tempo, Rangers’ play too passive, laborious and one-paced as the Norwegians coasted to victory thanks to goals from Emil Kornvig, Jacob Sorensen and Noah Holm.
With the transfer window not due to open for another 10 weeks, Rohl has no option but to plough on until then with the beleaguered squad he has inherited and hope he can somehow rouse them into something far greater than they are currently delivering.
Rangers now head into a period that could define their season. Already 13 points behind early Premiership pace-setters Hearts, they face a demanding double-header against Kilmarnock and Hibernian in the next week before a seismic Premier Sports Cup semi-final date with Celtic.
Lose that one and all their hopes could well be pinned on the Scottish Cup if they are to rescue something from this shambles of a season.
The first Brann goal, through Kornvig, was indicative of Rangers' defensive problems this season as they were sliced open easily
Just three days into the job, Rohl had elected not to make wholesale changes, making just two personnel switches from the team that drew with Dundee United at the weekend and sticking largely with a familiar 4-2-3-1 tactical structure.
Nasser Djiga was preferred as John Souttar’s defensive partner ahead of Derek Cornelius while there was another Europa League start for Youssef Chermiti, taking the place of Bojan Miovski at the apex of the attack.
At Rohl’s unveiling, Rangers sporting director Kevin Thelwell had been moved to defend the decision to shell out £8million for a striker who doesn’t score goals, claiming the former Everton forward was a player with ‘huge potential’ who would go on to become ‘a very, very good player’.
In truth, Rangers are yet to see any evidence of that and this was another occasion when Chermiti flattered to deceive. The 21-year-old really ought to have opened his scoring account midway through the first half after latching onto Joe Rothwell’s pinpoint cross only to head the ball tamely into the ground where it bounced kindly into the hands of Brann goalkeeper Mathias Dyngeland.
Moments later Chermiti found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time as Oliver Antman fizzed in an enticing cross from the right that would have teed up a tap-in had Chermiti been on the same wavelength. At least when Cyriel Dessers was being panned for some of his woeful finishing he was still chipping in with at least 20 goals a season. How Rangers could do with that level of scoring contribution given their current attacking woes.
Chermiti’s wastefulness carried extra significance as it arrived just as Brann were beginning to turn the screw following a relatively even opening to the match. Rangers had Jack Butland to thank for keeping them in it with two important saves, denying first Ulrik Mathisen and then a shot from a tight angle by Bard Finne.
The feeling was growing, however, that a goal for the home team was in the pipeline and it arrived just five minutes before half-time. It was the sort of crazy concession that had become the hallmark of Martin’s troubled time in charge.
Mathisen’s slick first-time pass from deep inside his own half caught James Tavernier dawdling far too high up the pitch, allowing Finne to run unfettered all the way into the Rangers penalty box. At that point the winger enjoyed a stroke of good fortune, his attempted turn resulting in the ball squirting towards goal where Kornvig had the easiest of finishes from just a few yards out.
It was a painfully soft goal to concede and would have given Rohl cause for alarm as he quickly reached for his iPad in the dug-out to figure out just what had gone wrong.
Joe Rothwell and Russell Martin's other signings have failed to find their feet for Rangers
Rangers haven’t won a match after falling behind all season and their chances of changing that sorry statistic all but dried up when they lost another goal 10 minutes into the second period. Again, it was all so straightforward from Brann’s perspective who probably couldn’t believe their luck at their guests’ ongoing generosity in defence.
Antman gave away a needless free kick on the Brann left, Finne swept in an enticing delivery and Sorensen was able to glide between Djiga and Jayden Meghoma to glance a header beyond Butland for Brann’s second goal of an increasingly commanding performance.
Rohl turned to his bench to try to salvage something from an increasingly hopeless situation only for Mikey Moore to prove as wasteful as some of the starters as he lashed a glaring opportunity high over the crossbar.
It was that sort of night for Rangers but they have had too many of them already this season. Rohl now knows he has his work cut out if he is to save this sinking ship.
