Danny Rohl has 'no chance' of returning Rangers to glory days as Ibrox hero gives damning recruitment verdict
Rangers are yet to pick up a point in Europe this season after a 3-0 defeat to SK Brann on their latest outing in Norway
Ally McCoist reckons new Rangers head coach Danny Rohl has “no chance” of restoring the club to their previous heights due to some “absolutely horrendous” recruitment.
The appointment of the 36-year-old German on Monday brought to an end a protracted search for Russell Martin’s successor, but Ibrox hero McCoist believes his old club’s problems go far deeper than the man standing in the dugout.
Rohl’s first match in charge of the Light Blues ended in a 3-0 defeat to SK Brann in the Europa League and a fuming McCoist insists managing the current squad is almost impossible for any coach as he bemoaned the state that the former Sheffield Wednesday boss has walked into.
McCoist: ‘It’s agony for me to say’
Commentating on the the match in Norway for TNT Sports McCoist declared: “From what I've seen, I've got to be honest, I might sound overly critical - Danny Rohl’s come in and he can only work with what he's got. Can he improve them? He probably can. Can he take that squad of players to a level that Rangers should be at? Absolutely no chance, no chance.
“The recruitment’s been horrendous, absolutely horrendous. It’s agony for me to say, but they look like wee boys sometimes in the majority of games I've seen. It's a heavy jersey, and it's a really heavy jersey when things aren't going well, I can assure you that.
“[Rohl] might be the best coach on the planet, but I'm not sure he's got an awful lot to work with at this moment in time.”
Rangers left in precarious position after third straight Europa League loss
Rangers’ humiliating defeat in Bergen was their third in as many games in the Europa League this season, leaving them at the foot of the 36-team league phase table.
And former Gers defender Alan Hutton echoed the thoughts of McCoist, by highlighting the club's poor recruitment overseen by under-fire sporting director Kevin Thelwell.
Analysing the game at full-time, he said: “It was painful at times to watch, to have one shot on target against the lowest-seeded team in the competition is really poor.
“Defensively, same old, we've seen it all season. They tried to be narrow, but gaps appeared from everywhere. I think this goes deeper than managers.
“I know Russell Martin didn't work out, but you can't judge Danny Rohl over one game. It's going to take time. But it's more than that, the recruitment's the big issue for me.
“It was crying out at the start of the season to get experience, to get leaders within that dressing room. They didn't, they went down a different avenue, it didn't work out and look where they are right now.”