Holding back Raskin: Röhl must drop the "cooked" Rangers flop vs Kilmarnock
Can Danny Röhl claim a win in his first Scottish Premiership match in charge of Rangers?
Amazingly, eight games into this league season, Rangers have still only won once.
Last weekend, with youth team coach Steven Smith at the helm, they required a late equaliser from James Tavernier to salvage a 2-2 draw with Dundee United at Ibrox.
This makes it the club’s worst start since 1978, excluding seasons they were outside the top-flight, and the Gers have not finished lower than third since 1985/86, which could be a genuine possibility right now.
The Light Blues are eight points behind fierce rivals Celtic but 13 adrift of current league leaders Hearts. The top two face each other at Tynecastle on Sunday, but Rangers are not involved in any title conversation, simply seeking to climb into the European places.
On Thursday night, Röhl did take charge of his new team for the first time, but one would not call it a dream start, given that they were demolished 3-0 by Brann in the Europa League.
In the next fortnight, the Light Blues face Kilmarnock, Hibs, Celtic, and then Roma, which certainly is not an easy set of fixtures, so which summer signing who looks completely “cooked”, so much so that he’s holding back teammates, should Röhl leave out of his team?
Nicolas Raskin's importance to Rangers
Last season, as Rangers endured a generally underwhelming campaign, Nicolas Raskin was named both the club’s Players’ Player of the Year award, as well as Supporters’ Player of the Year award last season, continually excellent even when the team was not.
Thus, one would assume that any new manager would make the Belgian one of the first names on the team sheet, but Russell Martin seemingly had other ideas.
Following a breakdown in the relationship between the pair, the short-lived boss decided to leave Raskin on the bench for crucial Champions League qualifiers against Viktoria Plzeň and Club Brugge, while he wasn’t in the squad at all for home games against Celtic and Hearts.
In the meantime, the 24-year-old has started each of Belgium’s last three outings, scoring against Kazakhstan in Brussels, thereby hoping to feature prominently at next summer’s World Cup, alongside Kevin De Bruyne, who isn’t bad, is he?
Back at club level, following that mini-exile, Raskin has started each of Rangers’ last seven matches, heading home the opener against Hibs in the League Cup quarter-finals, likely to be a central figure as Röhl looks to remould this underperforming team.
However, to truly get the best out of the Belgian, does the new boss need to move on from one of Rangers’ worst-performing summer signings?
The Rangers star who is holding Nicolas Raskin back
Fair to say, the Rangers support have not been won over by a large proportion of their summer signings.
Youssef Chermiti, Jayden Meghoma, Nasser Djiga, and Thelo Aasgaard, to name but a few, have so far certainly not impressed, but Joe Rothwell has been one of the most underwhelming additions.
When he arrived from Bournemouth in July, Kai Watson labelled him an “excellent passer” and “exactly what this Rangers midfield needs”, concluding he would be “a very smart signing”.
Well, so far, that has certainly not been the case, as the table below makes clear.
Joe Rothwell’s Rangers statistics
Stats
Rothwell
Rangers rank
Total minutes
958
7th
Assists
1
2nd
Pass completion %
95.8%
1st
Accurate passes per 90
28.1
8th
Key passes per 90
0.9
6th
Progressive passes
4
13th
Passes into final 3rd
3
12th
Shot-creating actions
1
13th
Average rating
6.72
12th
Stats via FBref & SofaScore
As the table documents, while Rothwell may rank first in terms of pass completion percentage, he is simply not doing anything with this high volume of passes.
This is emphasised by the fact he’s recorded just 0.9 key passes per game in the Premiership and only four progressive passes in the Europa League, while seven players have notched more accurate passes on a per 90 basis, which isn’t ideal given that this is supposed to be his main attribute.
His lack of mobility in the middle of the park has also come under scrutiny.
Neil McCann, speaking on Sky Sports commentary during August’s 1-1 draw with St Mirren, asserted that he looked completely “cooked”, while Kenny Macintyre, speaking on BBC Sportsound, exclaimed that “Joe Rothwell… has looked knackered in every game”.
In short, the Englishman is offering very little either in or out of possession, which is hindering those around him, given that Raskin is putting in chaotic displays, feeling as though he has to do everything, with Brann’s third goal on Thursday underlining how easy this team are to play through.
So, ahead of a crucial run of games, Röhl will be desperate for Mohamed Diomandé to be fit enough to return, while any of Connor Barron, Lyall Cameron, or the aforementioned Aasgaard should complete the trio, as they’d all offer far more than Rothwell right now.
Röhl has plenty to ponder right now, it would have been a sobering flight back from Bergen this week, but one of his top priorities has to be getting the best out of Raskin, something Rothwell’s continued inclusion is certainly not doing.
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