WHACKS ON WHACKS OFF

Ibrox gaffer Rohling with punches as he fixes problems

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FOR Danny Rohl, managing Rangers must feel like a game of whack-a-mole.

And there has been no end to the problems Rohl has had to take a swipe at.

When he first arrived in October, fixing the gaping holes in defence was top of his to-do list.

He quickly set about that task and was proud to see his side kick off 2026 with six clean sheets in eight games.

But with his backline bolted up, it then became clear a lack of cutting edge was the next snag to be sorted.

The appointment of set-piece guru Scott Fry and his cunning dead-ball designs got the Ibrox side through a few tricky weeks before they could welcome striker Ryan Naderi on deadline day.

With the German forming a formidable partnership with Youssef Chermiti up front, Rohl has seen those pesky problems at the back once again rear their ugly heads.

Combined with question marks over his squad's ability to cope with pressure, Rohl will have to find a way to whack those gremlins by the time tomorrow's showdown with Celtic comes around or risk seeing his side's Scottish Cup ambitions get clobbered.

With a wry grin, Rohl said: “Yes, this is the job as a manager. You have to sort out all the problems.

“We look back to the conceded goals. We're conceding too much at the moment. We conceded 16 in the league since I've been here but in the last five games we've let in eight.

“You look back at the Livingston game. The opponent has three touches in our box ... and two goals!

“When we look back to the penalty situation against Celtic last weekend, we have an eight against four in our box, we have the overload.