Danny Rohl’s decision to wade into the pre-match noise ahead of the Old Firm draw has drawn criticism from both Chris Sutton and Kris Boyd, who questioned why the Rangers manager chose to engage with comments made by Celtic midfielder Luke McCowan in the build-up to Sunday’s game.
McCowan had suggested that no team in the league can live with Celtic when they are at their best. Sutton made clear he did not particularly agree with that sentiment, dismissing the whole exercise as the kind of bravado that means little until trophies are handed out at the end of the season. His concern was not with McCowan but with Rohl for choosing to respond to it at all. Boyd shared that view, and both felt that getting involved in that kind of back-and-forth was unnecessary and carried risk.
Rohl had not only commented on McCowan’s remarks but had also taken aim at how Celtic approached their Europa League second leg against Stuttgart and raised questions about the Hoops’ goalkeeping situation. For Boyd, all of that pre-match activity was a distraction Rohl did not need, and the 2-2 draw, coming after Rangers had led by two goals, was exactly the kind of outcome that turns loose words into a problem.
Boyd pointed out that in Glasgow, every comment gets picked apart and turned into a headline. There was no need to get involved in any of it. He suggested Rohl might have felt comfortable enough at half-time, with his side two goals up, to think the result was already secured. By the end of the match, however, he was complaining about refereeing decisions, and a penalty that Boyd had no doubt about had levelled things up.
Sutton circled back to the broader question about Rangers’ mentality, noting that Rohl had insisted after the game there was no issue in that department. For Sutton, the more telling concern was not what happened on the pitch but why the manager had felt compelled to engage in a public exchange with a Celtic midfielder before a derby in the first place.
With the two sides set to meet again shortly in the Scottish Cup, this time with Celtic allocated the full Broomloan Stand and a winner required, the pre-match build-up is sure to generate its own headlines. Whether Rohl takes a different approach to the media circus will be worth watching.