It Brann.
Rangers’ dismal Europa League campaign continued in Danny Röhl’s first match as the club’s new manager. A limp, embarrassing 3-0 victory at the hands of an average SK Brann side now leaves Rangers with 0 points from their first three fixtures and probably rules out any chance of progression to the knockout rounds of the competition.
If the manager was unaware of the challenge ahead of him, he certainly won’t be now. The German faces a massive job getting this fragile band of weak-willed, gutless losers to start performing, and more notably, winning.
The first starting XI of the Röhl era featured two changes from the team selected on Saturday by interim boss Stevie Smith. Nasser Djiga and Youssef Chermiti came into the side in place of Derek Cornelius and Bojan Miovski, who both dropped to the bench.
The game started with Rangers edging the balance of play in the opening quarter, despite Jack Butland being called upon to make a couple of good saves.
Thelo Aasgaard fluffed his lines just shy of the half-hour mark after good play from James Tavernier put it on a plate for the Norwegian, but he mishit his effort and should have done better.
Yussef Chermiti was then presented with a great chance to break the deadlock. An inch-perfect cross from Nicolas Raskin found the former Everton man unmarked in the box, but his header was poorly executed and was easily held by the Brann goalkeeper.
The home side started to grow into the game and took the lead in the 39th minute. Another defensive calamity from Rangers resulted in Bard Finne being through on goal. His effort was miskicked, but rolled into the path of Emil Korvbig, who forced the ball into an empty net to make it 1-0.
Rangers pushed forward for an equaliser before the break, but the lack of cutting edge meant no goal was forthcoming, and the whistle sounded for the half-time with the Norwegians a goal ahead.
The second half kicked off in the same manner as the first ended, with Brann in the ascendancy. They were rewarded in the 53rd minute when Jacob rose highest to nod past Butland and leave Rangers with a mountain to climb.
Röhl made changes in the hope of sparking a fightback, but his players had the look of a team that didn’t believe they were ever getting back into the game. And their night was compounded with just ten minutes remaining. Noah Jean Holm, who had caused the hapless Rangers defence problems all night, got the goal his play deserved as he put his side 3-0 up to secure three points for the Scandinavians.
The team looked like terrified kids all evening and collectively threw in the towel as soon as Brann’s second goal hit the back of the net. The squad is crying out for leaders, and that must be the top priority in January. Many fans have said all season that the squad has potential, and that the horrendous start was down to Martin. And that’s true. But the players don’t have that to hide behind now. Tonight was a great opportunity for them to put on a performance to impress their new boss and to repay the travelling fans who spent a fortune to get to Bergen and back them. What they served up instead was an utter disgrace.
The loss now leaves Rangers in the humiliating position of sitting 36th (bottom) of the Europa League table. Just a few months ago, they were playing Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-final of the same competition. Just over three years ago, the club got to the final of this competition and were a penalty kick away from delivering the greatest night in the club’s history. How times have changed.
The next fixture sees this beleaguered side take on Kilmarnock at Ibrox, where victory is the only option. The manager must have incredible self-confidence in his ability if he’s willing to take this group on and try to make a success of it. That sort of mentality is certainly most welcome, and hopefully, that can rub off on some of these players. I doubt it, though.
Good luck in your new job, Danny. As your players have shown tonight, you’ll need it.