Rangers

Nick McPheat
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

The Rangers support have seen this film too often for their own liking, and now they are all repeating the same questions.

Is the manager up to it? Where are our leaders? Why do our players not have the minerals? The list goes on.

But this time feels different, and perhaps worse.

Rangers wilting in a title race with Celtic is one thing, but wilting in a title race with those same city rivals and a non-Old Firm club that has not won the top flight in 66 years - and with a fraction of their budget - is quite another.

Ibrox great Ally McCoist has questioned the team's mental strength, their ability to put together a 90-minute performance, and the lack of a Scottish core in the squad.

Head coach Danny Rohl has bristled at the mindset doubts, but Rangers' back-to-back league defeats at the start of their post-split schedule - after suffering just two Premiership losses all season beforehand - perhaps suggest otherwise.

And that is before considering Rohl's record against top-six sides this season. In 14 matches under Rohl against teams from the top half, Rangers have won just six times.

Throw in the Scottish Cup and League Cup exits to Celtic and that becomes six victories in 16 games in all competitions.

Sub-par player recruitment, with Rangers reportedly spending up to £40m across the past two windows, has also drawn serious criticism.

Lawrence Shankland smashing in the winner on Monday to all but eliminate Rangers from the title race was symbolic of that.

The Scotland striker was a player the Ibrox club supposedly showed no interest in when he was available as a free agent last summer, before re-signing with Hearts.

His unerring finish was his 18th goal of the season. By contrast, Rangers' strikers on the night - Youssef Chermiti (12), Bojan Miovski (13) and Ryan Naderi (three) - have 28 goals between them and cost a combined total of around £15m.

Rangers' season is now likely to peter out, even with an Old Firm derby still to come on Sunday - which has so much riding on it for their Glasgow rivals. The club can then expect the same familiar questions throughout the summer.

Image source, SNS

Bojan Miovski says Rangers allowed their title hopes slip away too easily in their 2-1 defeat at Hearts on Monday.

Danny Rohl's side took the lead through Dujon Sterling's deflected strike, before Hearts turned it around thanks to second-half goals from Stephen Kingsley and Lawrence Shankland.

It leaves the Ibrox outfit seven points behind leaders Hearts with three matches of the Scottish Premiership season remaining.

"We believed, of course we believed – everyone in the dressing-room believed we could do it," said striker Miovski, who came on as a substitute in Gorgie as Rohl desperately tried to find an equaliser.

"But unfortunately the second half was disappointing. If you fight for the league, you can't play like we did in the second half.

"We started really good in the first half and should have killed the game in that half.

"We gave them a chance in the second half. We lost concentration and gave them an easy goal, in my opinion.

"We brought them into the game, we shouldn't do that. I don't know exactly what went wrong. We need to analyse and improve."

Rangers are now effectively battling to finish second ahead of Celtic and secure a place in the Champions League qualifiers.

The sides meet at Celtic Park on Sunday with Rangers four points behind their city rivals.

"We will give everything until the end and try to collect as many points as we can," Miovski said.

"We need to finish this season strongly before thinking of next season."

Jamie Currie
Fan writer

Nico Raskin had suggested that Tynecastle on Monday was "do or die" for Rangers.

And as sure as Friday follows Thursday, Rangers were found wanting when it came down to the crunch.

It's like Groundhog Day. New players, new manager, same failures over and over again.

We were fine in the first half. The middle three were working well and at times we had Hearts in panic stations. But instead of building on the lead, we played keep-ball as if the job was done.

No-one showed the mentality to say, 'right, let's go and finish this off.' And, of course, we just didn't start the second half and paid the price.

The most annoying part of the second half was the complete lack of reaction after we went behind - it was a meek surrender.

Clearly, we are out of the title race. This is exactly why I remained hesitant to suggest we were properly involved until after the split.

Two games in and we're gone.

We don't have enough players in the squad for whom winning is everything. It's nice to do, but it's not the be-all and end-all.

Danny Rohl had to pick up a mess and got us into the title race where it was in our hands with five games to go.

Now, with three left, we're going to finish third. What's the point?

I fully expect us to fail on Sunday after Monday's meek second-half display, and Rohl's future is now a very sticky one for the owners.

We asked for your views after Rangers' Scottish Premiership title bid all but ended in defeat at Hearts.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Ron: It has happened again. Another year of failure. The club's recruitment department just keeps on failing. Each season we have another poor defence and forward line. We can't keep spending millions of pounds every season with so little success. For years this Rangers team has failed to play for 90 minutes.

Robert: Once again, when the pressure is on, the Rangers team goes missing. Too many times in recent seasons this has happened. We can't win when it really counts. We need to bring in a core of Scottish players. To think we could have signed Lawrence Shankland, who was available for nothing last summer. Yet another season of disappointment.

Ronnie: I'm not shouting for the manager to go, unlike many other Rangers fans. The team he put out utterly dominated Hearts for 45 minutes, but once again these Rangers players are incapable of keeping it going for 90 minutes. To surrender the title in this manner is unforgivable. I will take no comfort should we beat Celtic, but I do think Hearts deserve to win the title. It's another summer rebuild for Rangers. How often have we said that?

Alan: Rangers have real problems all over the field, but mentality is the biggest issue. Luke Graham and John Souttar should replace the lethargic Nasser Djiga and Emmanuel Fernandez. Why Bojan Movski, the most natural striker at the club, sits on the bench while Danny Rohl persists with Youssef Chermiti and Ryan Naderi is beyond me. Finally, what Findlay Curtis is doing out on loan demonstrates the blind folly of the manager and his backroom staff. Quite depressing for all our fans!

Derek: Yet again, another glorious failure! £40m fluttering down Gorgie Road. Team selection was bizarre again - Andreas Skov Olsen hasn't been in the frame for weeks yet starts the game. This team are serial losers. Same old story from Rohl.

Stuart: Another season, another bottle job from Rangers. As fans we've been subjected to a lot since 2012, but this is the lowest I've felt in a long time. I don't recognise the club anymore - very few do. I don't see how we ever get back to where we belong.

Captain Lawrence Shankland thundered Hearts to a huge victory over Rangers as the Scottish Premiership leaders restored their three-point advantage at the top and all but ended the Ibrox side's title hopes.

MATCH REPORT

HAVE YOUR SAY

Image source, SNS

Rangers head coach Danny Rohl: "We played a strong first half. We deserved to lead.

"Second half, this is football. We knew that they would come with power. They played much, much more direct in behind. We had less pressure on the ball and then you have to defend in critical areas very often. The 2-1, you should never concede such a goal in this area. This is then what we have to improve very quick.

"It's not enough to play 45 minutes on a high level, you have to play 90 minutes on your highest level.

"What I demand from my group now is show personality and courage for the next three games and this is our job to do.

"It's over when it's over and it means it's not over because we have still three games to go. It's a difficult situation, a very difficult situation. The last two games bring us in a really difficult situation. We worked so hard to come to this point and then you lose two times, so tight 2-1 and 3-2 and this is not good enough for the moment.

"How we make decisions in moments, this is really a part that we really have to improve. We have to learn from this, we have a young, potential squad but this is a job in the next weeks and months to improve.

"We will analyse the season - what was right, what was wrong, what we have to improve and then I'm totally convinced from the summer on, we go again."

Sportscene pundit Michael Stewart says Rangers "must create space" for Findlay Curtis to get minutes at Ibrox next season.

The young winger has impressed on loan at Kilmarnock this term, scoring in Saturday's vital win over Dundee United.

Available in UK only

Image source, SNS

Rangers' desperation to beat Hearts in a "must-win match" could prove to be their undoing in a Tynecastle cracker, says former defender Dave McPherson.

McPherson played for both Rangers and Hearts and believes the latter "have the edge" in what he is predicting to be an enthralling occasion on Monday (17:30 BST).

With the Ibrox side four points behind the leaders with just three games to play, McPherson believes they have to come away with three points to remain in Scottish Premiership title contention.

Speaking on the BBC's Radio Scotland Breakfast, McPherson said: "It's going to be a fantastic match. Both teams need to go out and try to win the game. It's a must-win match for Rangers.

"The way Hearts have approached matches this season, they go out to win and have players who can score goals. They don't have anything to fear.

"Rangers have to win, they have to come out and that could leave them exposed. Their defence certainly haven't covered themselves in glory this season."

Image source, SNS

Mikey Moore of Rangers won the SPFL young player of the year at Sunday evening's PFA Scotland awards.

The on-loan Tottenham winger, 18, has scored six goals in 28 Premiership appearances this season.

He has made 43 appearances across all competitions, laying on three assists.

The England Under-19 international topped the voting, with Dundee defender Luke Graham, Falkirk striker Barney Stewart and Aberdeen midfielder Findlay Marshall (loaned to Arbroath) making up the shortlist.

Thelo Aasgaard is highly unlikely to leave Rangers this summer despite suggestions they could cut their losses on the 23-year-old midfielder. (Football Insider), external

Image source, Getty Images

Greg Taylor's PAOK handed Rangers a potential Champions League qualifying boost after beating Greek title rivals Olympiakos 3-1 on Sunday.

The defeat leaves the reigning champions six points adrift of leaders AEK Athens with three games remaining.

It means Rangers are now favourites to take the final available automatic qualifying place in next season's league stage of Europe's premier club competition - but only if they first win the Scottish title.

Danny Rohl's side, who visit leaders Hearts on Sunday, sit third, four points behind the Edinburgh side and reigning champions Celtic with four games of the Scottish Premiership left to play.

The extra automatic place in the Champions League's league stage is a result of all four of this season's semi-finalists - Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid - having already qualified via their domestic leagues and ensuring the reigning champions do not have to qualify.

That extra space goes to the next highest-placed side in the European club coefficient list, which Olympiakos lead ahead of Rangers and Shakhtar Donetsk, with Celtic and Hearts further down the rankings.

The Ukrainian league leaders are three points behind Rangers and could yet overtake the Ibrox side as they remain in the Conference League semi-finals.

However, they trail Crystal Palace 3-0 after their first leg, with a victory earning two points for a victory, one for a draw and an additional 0.5 for progressing to the next round.

Meanwhile, former Celtic left-back Taylor was an unused substitute for PAOK, who were beaten by OFI Crete in last week's Greek Cup final, as their victory took them above Olympiakos into second place on goal difference in Greece's title play-off stage.

Former Hearts left-back James Penrice was a half-time substitute for AEK as they drew 0-0 away to fourth-placed Panathinaikos, who had defenderJavi Hernandez sent off after just 17 minutes.

Image source, SNS

Mohamed Diomande believes Rangers will need to produce their best performance of the season to beat William Hill Premiership leaders Hearts on Monday night.

With four fixtures remaining, Danny Rohl's side head to Tynecastle four points behind the Jambos and with the title out of their hands following a damaging 3-2 defeat by Motherwell at Ibrox last weekend.

Asked if Rangers will need to put in their best display of the campaign to give their title hopes a shot in the arm, midfielder Diomande said: "Yes we will. We need to put on a massive performance and work hard.

"It might not come easy for us, but we'll do everything to win the game. I believe we will win the game. We might not just win games by doing what the coach taught us or the tactical things we work on before.

"It will depend on ourselves. If Hearts or the other teams are going to play dirty, we need to stand up. Maybe we don't have to think about the tactical play and just fight.

"If that's what we need to win the game, we have to do it. It's about character and standing up for ourselves. It won't come easy. Fighting for it will be the most important thing."

The Ivory Coast international admitted the home defeat to Motherwell "wasn't the best" but says his side can't give up now.

"We have four more games to play that we're looking to win," he said. "We're really motivated to do so.

"It's disappointing because we know far behind we were, 13 points (when Rohl took over last October).

"We came back to one and now it's four again. We know what's happened before and we don't have many games left. Every minute will be very important now. Last Sunday, the first 45 were very disappointing.

"But we're still in it so we'll do everything to beat our direct opponents, who are also trying to win the league, to be champions."

Image source, SNS

Hearts hope to have at least one of Harry Milne (calf) or Cammy Devlin (muscle) back after injury, but Oisin McEntee, Calem Nieuwenhof (both hamstring), Tomas Magnusson, Ageu (both thigh) and Craig Gordon (shoulder) remain out.

Gers left-back Tuur Rommens has returned to training and Danny Rohl will assess his possible involvement.

Striker Ryan Naderi is making progress but remains doubtful, while defender John Souttar is nursing a knock but should make it.

Robbie Ure, whose goals have helped Sirius to the summit of the Swedish top flight, dreams of a return to first club Rangers one day - and a call-up by Scotland, although the 22-year-old striker is not ruling out playing for Ukraine instead. (The Herald), external

Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith doubts whether the Premier League leaders would be interested in Rangers centre-half Emmanuel Fernandez after the 24-year-old has had just one good season at Ibrox. (The Scotsman), external

Rangers midfielder Nicolas Raskin knows Monday's game against Hearts is "do or die" for their title hopes and understands their will be questions around the players' mentality until they win another title.

When head coach Danny Rohl arrived back in October the Ibrox club were 13 points off league leaders Hearts and had cut that gap down to just a point before last weekend's defeat to Motherwell.

Now, the Glasgow club are four points off the top with four to play but could once again narrow that gap to a point with a win at Tynecastle on Monday.

"It's not nice, especially when we've worked so hard to come back to that position," Raskin said.

"That's the thing that is even more frustrating for us. But like I say, we can't go back to that [Motherwell] game, it's done. So now we need to focus on Hearts.

"We know it's a kind of do or die game. It's either we win and we are in it or we lose and it's going to be very tough.

"So we all know, it's very clear for everyone. We have to win over there if want our chances to keep increasing.

"If we don't believe in ourselves then no-one else is going to believe in us. So first of all we need to believe we can do it.

"We know we can do it. We've shown it during the season. It's just now we have to put the last effort into the last four games and give some extra to go and get the win."

Hearts are searching for their first league title since 1960 while Rangers last won it in 2020-21, since then Glasgow rivals Celtic have dominated the Scottish top flight.

And Raskin admits Rangers need to win a trophy to silence any doubts.

"Like you say, until we win the big thing I think that's going to always be there," he said of questions around Rangers' mentality.

"But I don't think we can talk about mentality when a team comes back from 13 points behind to a position where you can still win the title.

"So it's a bit, I won't say unfair, but like you say, until we win the big thing it's always going to be a question mark.

"But we just keep focusing on ourselves and what we need to do to go and win it.

"And no matter what people say, we don't focus on that. We just focus on how do we win the next game? How do we get better for the next game and that's it."

Image source, SNS

Former Hearts and Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday suggests Rangers may have to "throw caution to the wind" at Tynecastle on Monday.

The Motherwell midfielder, who played for both Rangers and Hearts, feels Emmanuel Longelo's late goal against Danny Rohl's side last weekend has totally changed to dynamic ahead of Monday's game.

The sides had been level at Ibrox with 20 minutes to play on Sunday but Longelo's 90th minute goal took all three points for Jens Berthel Askou's team and pushed Rangers four points behind the league leaders.

With that in mind, Halliday says Rangers' title challenge will be over if they don't win on Monday.

"I think it's done for Rangers absolutely," he told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"It'll then go to seven points between Rangers and Hearts with only nine points remaining. So they would absolutely be out of it.

"Rangers getting a point at home to Motherwell, you can't say it's a good result because they needed to win that game but I do think that that goal by Emmanuel Longelo in the last minute completely changes things.

"If that finishes a draw, then Rangers are only three points behind Hearts with a better goal difference going to Tynecastle. So even a draw in that respect, I still think they're in the race because there's three games to go. It only takes Hearts to lose one, Rangers to lose one.

"So I think that it's a game that Rangers have to win and it will be really interesting to see how they respond to that. If it is 1-1 or 0-0 with 10 minutes to go, for me I think they have to completely throw caution to the wind to try and win the game.

"Does that then suit Hearts to then try hit them on the counter attack with the likes of Pierre Landry Kabore that will no doubt come off the bench with his pace towards the end.

"I think it's going to be a fascinating game but without doubt it's one that Rangers have to win to stay in this race."

Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace are all pushing to secure the signing of Rangers' 19-year-old Scottish midfielder Bailey Rice. (Teamtalk), external

Rangers are unhappy the SPFL have backed Celtic in the clubs' ticketing row over next Sunday's derby match at Celtic Park, with the Ibrox club faced with the decision whether or not to take up an allocation on condition the Union Bears supporters group do not attend. (Record), external

And former Rangers manager and captain Barry Ferguson fears a return to no away fans at future Old Firm games. (Herald - subscription required), external

Saturday's Scottish gossip

Image source, SNS

Rangers head coach Danny Rohl has been delighted with "role model" Youssef Chermiti's development in the past six months.

The 21-year-old striker failed to hit the ground running following his £8m move from Everton last summer, scoring just once in his first 18 games under Russell Martin and then Rohl.

But Chermiti has found form with 11 goals in the following 19 outings - including eight in his past eight league games - and is set to lead the line again in Monday night's crucial visit to leaders Hearts.

"Honestly, for me, Youssef is the role model for our development from October to now," Rohl said.

"I think he had a really difficult time in October, November, and maybe if you ask people now, nobody will say he should be on the bench.

"You see how hard he works for the group in every single game at the moment. He scores goals, he is involved in dangerous situations, he is outstanding in training at the moment, he really improved and this is fantastic to see.

"We try and support him all the time and it was important for us in some moments to keep him on the pitch and protect him. It is what he gives me and gives the team back.

"He shows a big, big character and what is also important, especially at our club, you have to understand what it means. If you work hard and you bring a lot of effort, the outcome will come. This is a good example.

"Youssef did really well and I am really happy to have him here. Hopefully he scores more goals and he has big courage. In big games he is always pressing on the pitch. This is good to have."