The latest international break gives us a natural time to mark Danny Rohl’s record for the first weeks of his tenure as Rangers head coach.
Three league wins and three cup defeats from six matches, an improvement in some areas of the team’s performance and plenty of room for improvement as the German looks to restore respectability at Ibrox.
Above all, it seems that the players, on the whole, are buying into the new manager’s message. Whatever he asks them to do, there seems to be a willingness to go and carry out those instructions, rather than seeming like a group of players who had only met that morning.
Rohl had to learn a lot about his team in the game, with limited opportunities for full practice sessions. So there was a certain level of experimentation (training and personnel) and changes during matches as he searched for the best formula.
At least this break gives him enough time to work with the players who are not on international duty and we should see more of a Rohl-style team as Christmas approaches.
The January transfer window will be exciting for Rangers. Until then he must try to determine where he would like to strengthen if possible and which players he would like to develop (easier said than done).
Which brings us to Kevin Thelwell and Patrick Stewart, still under fire. Many questions remain about the quality of the recruiting done under their leadership this summer and a large portion of fans still want them to follow the path of Russell Martin, even if it seems unlikely.
January will also be crucial for them. But we’ll talk about that later.
