Celtic face Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final a few weeks from now.
Things may not all be going great for Brendan Rodgers’ side – far from it, in fact. But across the city, there is a whole new level of crisis.
Rangers have, incredibly, won just one of their eight league matches. Russell Martin was sacked just months after his appointment, and stepping in to fill the vacancy is Danny Rohl.
Steven Gerrard and Kevin Muscat were also chased by the Ibrox hierarchy, but to no avail. The managerial search was highly publicised, further embarrassing 49ers enterprises who aren’t finding it easy at Ibrox.
Celtic icon Martin O’Neill has weighed in on the managerial recruitment process, and eventual appointment of Rohl.
Celtic icon Martin O’Neill on Danny Rohl’s appointment at Rangers
Rohl is 36 years old, and heads to Ibrox having managed Sheffield Wednesday after working as assistant to Hansi Flick and Ralph Hasenhuttl.
Whether he was truly first choice at Ibrox is in serious doubt, though.
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For O’Neill, the appointment of Rohl is less of a problem than the process that led to it, which made Rangers look a ‘mess.’
He told the Premier League Show on Sky Sports: “It seemed a mess, really, in terms of confidentiality. Parts of it were confidential, and other parts hit the media.
“It’s almost indicative of Rangers Football Club at the minute. It’s a phenomenal football club. Really, really great football club, which finds itself in a mess both on and off the field at this minute.
“As for the manager stepping in now, it doesn’t matter if he’s first, second or third choice. He starts to win football matches, which is what the Rangers fans want, they want to win.
“I noticed that he said in his statement that he wants to win early on. Rangers couldn’t care less at this minute how he plays, he’s just got to win. Eventually, at some stage if you want to win with panache, if that’s the case… but Rangers haven’t been winning for quite some considerable time.
“And as he said himself, there’s a couple of jobs that I eventually got that I wasn’t first choice for. Wycombe Wanderers, Leicester City, things like this here. It’s what you do with the job when you get it.”
Celtic’s upcoming semi-final against Rangers
The meeting between Celtic and Rangers is closer than it feels – it comes a week after the Hoops’ meeting with Hearts on Sunday.
It really is a huge week for Rodgers and his side. If they aren’t to beat Sturm Graz in the Europa League this week, it’s a long way back for qualification for the later stages.
The Hearts challenge speaks for itself – Chris Sutton says there is a real chance that the Jambos can win the league.
Throw in a midweek fixture against Falkirk, and we will learn an incredible amount about Celtic, Rohl and Hearts over the next few weeks.
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