Danny Rohl delighted with Rangers' new set-piece 'expert' while pinpointing rationale behind Ibrox appointment
Rangers appointed the former Wolves and Lincoln City man to help them with dead-ball situations.
After Rangers added Scott Fry to their backroom staff as resident set-piece expert, Danny Rohl has had his say on the appointment.
Fry will be the first ever individual to hold the position at Ibrox after his exploits at Lincoln City, where he helped the Imps score 30 set piece goals last season, the most in EFL League One. Before he was at Sincil Bank he worked at Wolves as a goalkeeping coach, alongside current Ibrox Sporting Director, Kevin Thelwell.
Having had an abysmal record from set pieces in recent seasons, Rangers are now looking to turn things around with the appointment of Fry, who will have time to work with the team before Saturday afternoon’s SPFL Premiership showdown against Livingston. As Rohl prepares his side for their first post-International break fixture, he claimed he is ‘very happy’ to have Fry onside.
‘A lot of goals come from set pieces’
When speaking of Fry’s arrival, the Rangers boss in his usual ‘say it like it is’ manner, highlighted the reason for the appointment. According to The Rangers Review, Rohl said: “we have Scott Fry now and it was very important for me to get the best man for this part of the game, a lot of goals come from set-pieces.
“If you are drawing a game then if you have a set-play coach, then it gives you a good opportunity to score. You have a lot to do and it is important if you have an expert around you who is working 24/7 for set-pieces, then he will help us a lot. It is about bringing things from the meeting room onto the pitch and for this you need a specialist.
“We looked through the data and who has the best data in set pieces, what makes sense and what is possible in the market and we found a shortlist. I spoke to some guys and in the end Scott did really well in the meeting, he has a clear idea of what he wants to do and identity in set pieces and I am very happy to get him here.”
Crunching the numbers
Compared to Lincoln City’s 30 set piece goals from last season, Rangers scored a grand total of eight, showing it is a particular area where there is vast room for improvement. What makes this statistic even more bewildering, is that the Ibrox side win more corners than the majority of other teams in the Scottish League, yet still have the joint-worst record.
There’s also plenty of room for improvement defensively, as particularly earlier on in the season, the Light Blues conceded goal after goal from long free kick crosses, which on the face of it should be easily dealt with. Only three clubs have conceded a higher average of chances from set-pieces than Rangers so far this season.
While their set-piece record has been poor, Rangers still have the personnel to turn it around under Fry’s guidance. At the age of 34, captain, James Tavernier still knows how to whip in a cross, while the likes of John Souttar, Derek Cornelius and Nico Raskin are all strong in the air.