Rangers fight off Hibs as Rohl rise reaches new heights to propel unlikeliest of title bids – 5 talking points
The Light Blues moved up to third – their highest position under Danny Rohl – with a 1-0 win and cut the gap on Celtic in second
21:53, 15 Dec 2025
Rangers found themselves out of their depth in Europe – but might they just be about to plunge themselves into the unlikeliest of title bids? A team that looked in danger of drowning domestically has scrapped themselves back into some kind of form under new boss Danny Rohl.
It’s now eight games unbeaten in the league since the German’s October arrival. And he’ll hope they can turn the tide on Hearts’ Premiership push when they head to Gorgie on Saturday, where victory would leave his team only six behind the Jambos with a game in hand.
Rohl couldn’t prevent his side’s faint Europa League ambitions from sinking on Thursday as they lost for the fifth time in six games against Ferencvaros in Budapest. And he’ll realise it’s going to take a major improvement in domestic performance levels if his side is to complete a capital double and topple the Tynecastle men.
Hibs had the better of the first half and almost snatched the lead when Jack Butland was caught under Jamie McGrath’s looping back-post corner as Warren O’Hora headed towards goal – only for Dujon Sterling to rescue the hosts with his goal-line clearance. But they found themselves trailing when the ragged Rangers side finally clicked on 35 minutes, with Sterling picking out Emmanuel Fernandez’s giant 6ft 5ins frame with as clipped cross.
It only needed a gentle flick to steer the ball past Raphael Sallinger but it was enough to seal victory and move Rohl’s team up to third. Sub Djeidi Gassama thought he’d sealed the win with 12 minutes left but an offside flag curtailed his celebrations.
Gers’ nervous tension
Rangers’ Rohl run is gather pace in the Premiership – but you’d hardly know it from the tetchy soundtrack that continues to swirl round Ibrox.
The Gers fanbase’s previous experience under Russell Martin seems to have left them suffering PTSD, with the slightest scare on the pitch producing wild, panicked reactions in the stands.
It will be Hibs having flashbacks in days to come as they struggle to understand just how they allowed themselves to be beaten by such a outfit as drab and disjointed as this Light Blues one.
Rangers’ Connor Barron (R) with Head Coach Danny Rohl vs Hibs(Image: SNS Group)
It certainly wasn’t a display that will persuade the doubters who are yet to be convinced Rohl is any better a boss than the man he replaced.
But without a serious upgrade on the players he has to deal with, it’s hard to know if he’s the real deal or not.
Fern frontman?
It remains to be seen if Fernandez will cut it at Ibrox as a centre-back. But the London sky-scraper might stand a better chance of succeeding as a striker.
His towering height advantage means he’s always a threat at set-pieces, as he proved when he glanced home his third goal of the season just before half-time. Unfortunately for Rohl, there are times when he poses as much of a risk in his own box as he does in the opposition’s.
The £2.5million recruit from Peterborough put his team in trouble three times during the first half with sloppy mistakes, while he had Butland worried early in the second as he almost put the ball through his own net. But with Nasser Djiga set to depart for AFCON duty tomorrow morning, Rangers are going to have to preserve with him at the back and hope he tightens up his act.
Not everybody can be like Mike
Rohl better hope that nothing happens to Mikey Moore because without the on-loan Spurs kid, his team will be in major trouble.
The German had to send out an inexperienced line-up with an average age of just 22.2 as injuries forced him into five changes to the team that lost in Budapest.
But it was left to the youngest player on the pitch to show the rest hot to actually take the game to Hibs.
While the rest of his team-mates looked tepid, timid and frankly petrified of taking a chance in possessions as they shunted passes backwards and sideways, it was 18-year-old Moore who continually looked to grab the game by the scruff of the neck.
You could hear the excitement from the stands every time he faced up a defender. But the rest of the time there was frustration and anger as the other Rangers players abdicated their responsibility to force the issue.
Rohl saw his side robbed of creativity during Moore’s recent injury lay-off and that’s why he’ll be desperate to keep the England youth international fit.
Gers miss Miovski
Nothing sums up Danny Rohl’s current run of luck with injuries that having Bojan Miovski ruled out just when it seemed the striker had finally found his shooting boots.
The North Macedonia frontman blasted a brilliant brace at Rugby Park last weekend and followed it up with a sensational scissor kick to put Gers ahead in Hungary.
But the kick he suffered late on against Robbie Keane’s Budapest outfit meant he missed out against Hibs.
That offered |£8million misfit Youssef Chermiti a chance to impress and while he forced an early save from from Sallinger and had a few other nice touches, his most memorable contribution was slicing a first-half shot out for a THROW IN before wasting another huge chance late on.
Rohl will be pleased to see Dujon Sterling get through another 60 minutes on his return from injury, while forgotten man Clinton Nsiala looked comfortable as he ended his Ibrox exile.
Hibs’ Ibrox hoodoo continues
Hibs head coach David Gray(Image: SNS Group)
David Gray was hugely frustrated by his team’s displays in their two previous encounters with Rangers this season.
Martin was a huge flop at Ibrox but did manage a Premier Sports Cup victory over the Edinburgh side, while Rohl got his first victory on the road in Leith a couple of months back.
Gray was hoping his side would put up a far better show of themselves this time.
But it’s another case of what might have been as they repeatedly failed to take advantage of Gers’ ropiness on and off the ball.
It’s now one win in their last 13 defeats from their last 14 trips to Govan.
