Will the start of yet another new era off the park lead to one on the pitch for Rangers?
On Monday, it was announced, somewhat out of the blue, that both chief executive Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell had been sacked, just weeks after they had been publicly backed by Andrew Cavenagh and other members of 49ers Enterprises.
Thelwell and Stewart oversaw the hiring and swift firing of Russell Martin, as well as appointing his successor Danny Röhl, with the power vacuum upstairs likely to see the German head coach have a rather large say when it comes to January recruitment.
Before the transfer window opens, Rangers have eight more matches to play, with Röhl still attempting to build a cohesive team out of the mishmash squad he has inherited, but which big-money signing should find himself on the bench against Falkirk on Sunday?
Danilo's continued poor performances
Rangers have signed plenty of players who have not lived up to their price tag in recent years, with Danilo right towards the top of that list.
Since arriving from Feyenoord in the summer of 2023 for a reported fee of £6m, the Brazilian striker has made just 67 appearances for the Light Blues due to injury problems.
However, when he is on the pitch, he is not delivering either, scoring just 15 times for the club, of which three have come this season, putting in a very underwhelming display during Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Braga, as the table below documents.
Shots on target
1
3rd
Expected goals
0.15
6th
Successful dribbles
2
7th
Accurate passes
14
18th
Passing accuracy %
71%
17th
Touches
34
18th
As the table documents, Danilo made little impact on the night’s proceedings.
His major moment came just after the half hour mark, played in-behind by Mohamed Diomandé, but tamely shooting straight at Lukáš Horníček, lacking any semblance of confidence or conviction, never appearing to believe he was going to score.
In the Brazilian’s defence, he was deployed out of possession on the left-wing so, with that in mind, Röhl surely must start his forgotten special young talent when Falkirk visit Govan on Sunday instead.
Rangers' youngster with an exciting future ahead
Amazingly, 26 matches into this season across all competitions, only two Rangers players have scored four goals or more, namely Djeidi Gassama and James Tavernier.
Just below them on three goals is Findlay Curtis, despite the fact he has barely featured for three months.
The teenaged academy graduate made his senior debut against Fraserburgh in the Scottish Cup in January, but was one of the stars of Martin’s ill-fated tenure, scoring three times before 24 August.
The pick of the bunch was this rocket to secure a 2-0 victory over Panathinaikos in a Champions League qualifier back in July.
Overall, Curtis has seen 244 minutes of action this season, but just 17 minutes of this have come since the start of September, not featuring at all in 12 of Rangers’ last 15 fixtures.
He was given a nine minute cameo by Röhl during the defeat to Roma earlier this month, this the only time he has been seen under the new manager.
Despite this, Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout asserts that he has an “exciting future ahead”, while Kai Watson asserts that he “looked really bright” every time he is called upon.
Curtis’ direct dribbling and fearlessness is something Rangers severely lack, especially with Mikey Moore currently sidelined, while fellow wingers Oliver Antman and Thelo Aasgaard simply are not offering enough.
Thus, with games against Falkirk, Dundee United and then Kilmarnock up next, Röhl surely has to reintegrate Curtis, or risk him becoming the latest Rangers youngster who is forced to depart in search of first team opportunities.
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Following Rangers’ 1-1 draw with Braga in the Europa League at Ibrox on Thursday, which flop must Danny Röhl axe who was even worse than Nasser Djiga?
ByBen Gray
