The Glasgow Rangers are deep in crisis. Now, 36-year-old Danny Röhl, once a close confidant of Hansi Flick, is set to get the Scottish giant back on track.
“Pack your things and leave before we pack them for you”: With this unambiguous banner, Glasgow Rangers fans addressed the club’s leadership during the recent league match against Dundee United. No question: There have been better times – and better moods – at Ibrox Stadium.
The man to lead the faltering Scottish giant back to the path of success is a former associate of Hansi Flick: 36-year-old Danny Röhl is taking over as head coach at Rangers.
Although the Zwickau native has already gained experience in Leipzig, Munich, and with the German Football Association (DFB), this is only his second appointment as head coach – and undoubtedly the biggest challenge of his career so far.
A great traditional club in free fall
Because Röhl is taking over Glasgow in a precarious situation: After a poor start with only nine points from eight games, the Scottish record champion is merely in sixth place in the Premiership, and in the Europa League, they suffered two defeats in two matches.
Even more significant is the bigger picture: In the eternal duel with arch-rival Celtic, the traditional club has been struggling for competitiveness for years. In the past 14 seasons, Rangers have only managed to win the title once, and after Celtic’s 55th championship, they even have to fear being dethroned as the record champion.
So Röhl is stepping into a powder keg. The fans’ patience – as the initially mentioned poster shows – has long run out. Predecessor coach Russell Martin had to leave the stadium under police protection in early October, while angry supporters tried to block the Rangers team bus.
Precarious situation: “I love this challenge”
The heated atmosphere, however, doesn’t seem to the Röhl. On the contrary: “The expectations are high, and I love this challenge because I also set high standards for myself and for the team,” he stated at his introduction.
According to consistent reports, Röhl had initially turned down Rangers after Martin’s dismissal. The club was exploring several candidates anyway.
The environment was particularly hoping for a return of fan favorite Steven Gerrard, who had led Rangers to their most recent championship title in 2021. But the former Liverpool professional declined after intensive talks – the BBC called it a “shock” for Rangers.
Röhl: “Trust must be earned”
Now Röhl is here: As the fourth coach in the current calendar year, he signed a contract until 2028. It is “a great privilege” to work as head coach at a globally recognized club, he shared.
He doesn’t have much time to settle in: Röhl’s debut on the sidelines is already on Thursday, when they face Brann Bergen in the Europa League.
“We have no time to lose, we start immediately. I know that trust must be earned, and I am aware that we have to show the fans from the start on the pitch that they can have trust in our work,” Röhl emphasized.
Via Leipzig and Southampton to FC Bayern
According to sporting director Kevin Thelwell, the German is exactly the right man for new impulses: “Danny has worked in some of the most demanding environments where winning is the only expectation. That has prepared him well for Rangers.”
Röhl’s career off the pitch began when he was just over 20, after a cruciate ligament rupture ended his active career early: He started in 2010 as a video analyst in the youth department of RB Leipzig. The sports science graduate later worked in this role under Ralf Rangnick with the professionals, before being promoted to assistant coach of Ralph Hasenhüttl in 2016.
The Austrian took his assistant with him to FC Southampton in December 2018. On the initiative of then Bayern coach Niko Kovač, Röhl ended up at FC Bayern in the summer of 2019. After 15 games under the Croatian, he then worked in the coaching team of Hansi Flick.
“Relevant contribution” in the treble season
In the 2020 treble season, Röhl developed into an important man behind Flick. He was one of the few allowed to criticize or correct the head coach.
Then FCB sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić praised at Röhl’s contract extension in 2020: “Danny, as assistant to Hansi Flick, has made a relevant contribution to our team playing successful and attractive football again.”
In 2021, Röhl accompanied Flick to the German national team. The then only 32-year-old was supposed to help, as a pressing expert from the Leipzig school, to give the national team a modern playing style. National team director Oliver Bierhoff attested to him “great football expertise and a willingness to innovate” at the time.
Modern methods and pressure school
Röhl himself once described his style in a kicker interview as “shaped by Red Bull football with lots of pressing combined with possession phases where solutions have to be found, as practiced at FC Bayern.”
But his methods weren’t well received everywhere. After the debacle at the 2022 World Cup, the rising assistant coach also became a target of criticism.
“I believe that Flick was driven crazy at the World Cup by his assistant coach student, who constantly distracted him with the iPad,” fumed self-proclaimed laptop coach skeptic Mehmet Scholl in 2024: “Hansi lost track a bit because he trusted the wrong man.”
Sensational survival in England
Röhl was celebrated with a rewritten version of “Daddy Cool” by Boney M.: “Danny, Danny Röhl,” echoed through the dressing room and from the stands.
In the 2024/2025 season, his team finished in twelfth place at the end of a worry-free season. But shortly before the start of the season, Röhl announced his resignation from the financially struggling traditional club.
What Röhl must improve with Rangers
Parallels can indeed be seen between Röhl’s two appointments in Sheffield and Glasgow: In both cases, the club was on the ground – but while it was about survival in England, in Scotland it’s actually about titles.
Furthermore, Rangers don’t have a technical or tactical problem, as Röhl’s predecessor Martin diagnosed shortly before his dismissal: “It’s a question of mentality.”
On paper, there is quality in the squad: With a squad value of around 105 million euros, Rangers are in second place in the internal league ranking behind Celtic (133 million), with the next clubs following at around 20 million.
Instead, the local press currently criticizes mainly a lack of basic virtues: passion, commitment, fighting spirit – and the ability to remain consistent over 90 minutes.
“At the highest possible level”: Röhl pursues big goals
Whether Röhl, as a young, modern tactics expert, fits into the rough everyday life of the Scottish Premiership and can breathe new life into a mentally weak team remains to be seen.
He clearly doesn’t lack the necessary self-confidence: “I haven’t made a secret of the fact that I would like to work at the highest possible level in the near future – with the best players,” Röhl emphasized in June to Bild, when rumors emerged about interest from the Bundesliga.
Glasgow might not yet be in the very top tier – but it could be the right intermediate step for him to finally prove that he is ready for more.