The Danny Röhl era at Rangers begins.
Having been unveiled on Monday, the 36-year-old has not had a lot of time to prepare for his first match in charge, which will be Thursday night’s Europa League tie with Brann.
The Gers travel to Bergen having lost five consecutive European matches, currently pointless in the league phase, following defeats at the hands of Genk and Sturm Graz.
Hosts Brann, meantime, narrowly lost their Europa League opener 2-1 against Lille, Hamza Igamane on target for the hosts in Northern France, but then beat Utrecht 1-0 on home turf earlier this month, Sævar Atli Magnússon the match-winner, so will fancy their chances of another scalp.
Rangers though cannot allow that to happen if they’re to get back in the hunt for a place in the knockout stages, so what lineup should Röhl pick as he aims to leave Norway with all three points?
What Rangers supporters should expect from Danny Röhl
Despite his youthfulness, a year younger than defender Leon Balogun who departed in the summer, Röhl has plenty of high-level experience as a coach.
He worked under Ralph Hasenhüttl as an assistant at RB Leipzig and Southampton, before also being an assistant manager at Bayern Munich to Niko Kovač and then Hansi Flick, joining the latter in charge of the German national team at the World Cup in Qatar.
His first head coach role took him to Hillsborough, overseeing 89 matches in charge of EFL Championship crisis club Sheffield Wednesday, saving the Owls from relegation in his first season in charge, before they finished 12th last year, despite being run into the ground by owner Dejphon Chansiri.
In terms of tactics, as outlined in a piece by the Coaches’ Voice, Röhl ‘utilised a variety of formations’ during his time in Yorkshire, regularly switching between a back three and a back four, noting that in build-up play his ‘central defenders split quite wide’, labelling this a ‘key feature’ of his team.
They go on to note that there would always be a double pivot in front of the back-line, with width provided by wing-backs, allowing wide-attackers to penetrate centrally, making them as much of a goal threat as possible.
Thus, expect Röhl to be quite fluid with his formations, while also making regular changes to his starting lineups, especially considering this is the first of six matches on his agenda in the next 17 days, but we’re going to give predicting his first XI a go!
Rangers predicted XI vs Brann
During Russell Martin’s disastrous tenure, as well as under caretaker boss Steven Smith on Saturday, Rangers have always operated out of a back four.
Thus, in search of defensive stability, many are forecasting Röhl will instantaneously switch to a back three, but who would benefit from this change in shape?
Well, Nasser Djiga would for starters, simply because a third centre-back is needed.
John Souttar and deadline day signing Derek Cornelius have formed an encouraging partnership in recent weeks, while Wolves loanee Djiga has started just two of the last seven matches, not exactly endearing himself to his new supporters by being sent off against Dundee during his home league debut.
Meantime, at wing-back, Jayden Meghoma, on loan from Brentford, is the only natural left-back at the club, but has really struggled, so the vastly more experienced Max Aarons could fill in on that side, despite being naturally right-footed.
On the opposite flank, there has been debate for many years about captain James Tavernier’s defensive acumen, but one cannot argue with his attacking output, considering he is the club’s joint-top scorer this season with five, taking his tally to 135 for the club against Dundee United at the weekend, and a wing-back role could help him get back to his best.
The importance of a midfield duo in Röhl’s system has already been alluded to, so luckily for him Rangers’ best player last season was Nicolas Raskin, back in the team now and playing week in and week out, after a falling out with Martin earlier in the campaign that really saw supporters turn against the manager.
Alongside, none of Joe Rothwell, Connor Barron, Thelo Aasgaard nor Lyall Cameron appear particularly appetising options, if we’re being totally honest.
Thus, Röhl will hope to have Mohamed Diomandé available, after the Côte d’Ivoire international sat out the weekend draw due to a knock, but is expected to be available for the trip to Bergen.
Raskin and Diomandé as a pair certainly boast the athleticism and on-ball quality to be able to dominate matches, even at a high level.
Scout Emir has certainly been impressed by the Ivorian, noting that he is “relentless in duels” while also constantly showing for the ball under pressure, concluding that he is becoming the “complete midfielder”.
Lastly, in attack, Djeidi Gassama will certainly be in the line-up, considering he made 81 appearances for Röhl when the pair were together at Sheffield Wednesday, while he is Rangers’ joint-leading scorer this season with five, all of which have come in Europe, thereby hoping for more of the same in Norway.
The Frenchman has already shown that he can link up well with fellow new recruit Oliver Antman, the pair combining to score the third goal during a demolition of Viktoria Plzeň during Champions League qualifying, the clear high point of Martin’s ill-fated tenure.
Lastly, despite splashing £10m to sign Youssef Chermiti, thereby making him the club’s second-most expensive signing of all-time, it’ll surely be Bojan Miovski leading the line, the North Macedonian looking to add to his two goals for the club to date.
GK
Jack Butland
CB
John Souttar
CB
Derek Cornelius
CB
Nasser Djiga
RWB
James Tavernier
CM
Nicolas Raskin
CM
Mohamed Diomandé
LWB
Max Aarons
RW
Oliver Antman
LW
Djeidi Gassama
ST
Bojan Miovski
They may not have shown it very much this season, currently pointless in the Europa League and sixth in the Scottish Premiership, but Rangers do boast some good players.
So, if Röhl can turn them into a functioning team, results will exponentially improve for sure, of that there is no doubt.