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There was barely a moment during his formal unveiling as Rangers manager when the smile left Danny Rohl’s face.
At the age of 36 and with less than two full seasons of experience as a senior head coach behind him, it was tempting to believe that even he could scarcely believe such an opportunity has come his way.
Yet that would be doing a disservice to the man born in Zwickau in eastern Germany just a few months before the Berlin Wall came down.
Rohl has some considerable obstacles of his own to overcome if he is to convince a weary and angst-ridden Rangers support he is the right man to turn around the mess he has inherited from Russell Martin.
But he carried himself with a tangible air of self-assurance, never once hinting at arrogance, throughout a first media conference which suggests he may just have the minerals required for the daunting task he has taken on.
These occasions can never offer a truly reliable indicator of how the man in the hot seat will fare but Rohl certainly made a positive first impression.
Danny Rohl was all smiles on his official unveiling as the new Rangers manager
Rohl is introduced by CEO Stewart, chairman Cavenagh and sporting director Thelwell
The 36-year-old German gets acquainted with the Ibrox dressing room
The serenity and confidence he managed to convey was perhaps helped by the fact most of the intense scrutiny from those asking the questions was directed at the three men seated alongside him at the top table.
Chairman Andrew Cavenagh, chief executive Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell all found themselves in defensive mode as they addressed the failures of the first three months of a season which saw Martin sacked in record time.
Rohl had the luxury of only looking forward as he outlined his determination to give the Rangers fans a successful team they can take pride in once again.
‘I know how demanding a club this is,’ he said. ‘But you have to feel it and it is a part I will learn very soon.
‘But I’m very well prepared to turn things around and it starts with winning, a team which is very honest and which goes in the direction the fans want to see.
‘I have watched some clips of some home games here in the past and seen the atmosphere you can really bring here. But for this, you have to invest as a group on the pitch and it starts with me as a leader, to give them an idea of how we want to play.
Many fans and pundits alike have queried whether the club may be too big for Rohl to manage
‘With this direction, I’m very clear that we will bring a lot of supporters back.’
Rohl built his reputation as a forward-thinking coach and earned senior backroom roles at RB Leipzig, Southampton, Bayern Munich and the German national team after his playing career was ended at just 21.
Those who played under him during the past two seasons at Sheffield Wednesday, where he thrived amid dire circumstances off the pitch, are unfailingly complimentary when asked about his qualities.
He isn’t the youngest man to become manager of Rangers, although the then 32-year-old Graeme Souness got the job in very different and ultimately more favourable circumstances almost 40 years ago.
Rohl has no doubts he is equipped to handle whatever the coming weeks and months throw at him, regardless of any perceptions of him as a rookie.
‘Some people will talk about my age but I’m very well prepared over the last 16 years,’ he added.
Rohl succeeds Russell Martin, whom he managed against during his time in the Championship
‘Pressure in this business is usual. You have to learn this very soon. I had a great opportunity to work for Bayern Munich and be just an assistant coach, but I felt what it means to be a head coach and what pressure you have.
‘The first step for me here, and this is the huge one, we need wins in a row. I think this is very important, because with wins in a row you can create self-confidence and I saw in my first training session today, we train with intensity, we were very lively on the pitch, I see so much potential.
‘For me, always as a coach it’s very important that you bring the strength of the squad on the pitch, and this was in the past always my crucial thinking, my mindset. You can have an idea of football, but you have also to look at which players you have, and if you can bring the squad together with your style of football, with the things you demand, then you will go in a fantastic direction.’
Rangers have been criticised for the ponderous nature of much of their play in recent seasons, both under Martin and his predecessor Philippe Clement, and that is something Rohl will seek to change.
‘We made a fantastic start this morning, we spoke about what I want to see,’ he said. ‘The first thing is we have to speed up our game. We come in fantastic situations, we come between the lines, but instead we attack the last line, we break and we stop, and I think this is something with the mindset.
‘We have to understand we are a big, big, massive club and our demands are very high, but we cannot just think we can win football games with nice football. We have to understand we have to press well, we have to hunt, we have to go into counter-pressing and we have to play with intensity, and it starts from the striker until the defender.
Rohl insists he will demand more speed and positivity in Rangers' on-field approach
‘If you do it as a unit again and again then it’s very hard to beat us and to break us down. I think this is, in the mindset, what I want to change very quickly.’
There will be little breathing space for Rohl, who must try and revive Rangers’ ailing Europa League campaign when they take on Brann in Norway in his first game in charge tomorrow night.
‘We know where we are at the moment and when you are committed to this job then you know what it is demanding,’ he said. ‘It starts on Thursday with the first game. We want to win, we need wins because we want to turn around the position at the moment. We are not happy, we know this, and that’s the reason why I’m here.’
Rohl was unfazed when the manner of his recruitment was raised, having at one stage pulled himself out of the running. He shrugged off the notion he was ultimately the club’s third choice behind Steven Gerrard and Kevin Muscat.
‘You can be the first, the second or the third choice,’ he said. ‘We had outstanding meetings and I felt the trust. Sometimes, it’s about timing. I felt the club were still fighting for me.
‘I’m honest with you, I cannot tell you which choice I am, I can just tell you that I’m here. It gives me the belief that I was the first choice and with this direction I want to go forward.’
