Rangers domestic momentum stalled at Ibrox as Danny Röhl’s side were held to a goalless draw by Falkirk.
The Gers Head Coach was brutally honest about where it went wrong. After four straight league wins, the afternoon was a flat reminder that this team’s consistency remains a work in progress.
Röhl admitted the performance “lacked acceleration,” with Rangers repeatedly slowing down attacks in promising areas.
“We couldn’t accelerate our game,” he said.
“We got into good areas but the decision-making – finding the next free man, taking the right touch – wasn’t right today.”
Even more frustrating for the head coach were the transition moments.
Röhl counted “four or five situations where we could really hurt them,” only for players to turn back or miss simple passes, allowing Falkirk to reset – with both Max Aarons and Thelo Aasgaard extremely guilty of negative play on the day.
This hesitation fed into a wider issue: the lack of conviction across the pitch.
“In some moments I missed the conviction, even in our pressing,” he said.
“If you don’t go 100 percent, you give the opponent belief. We dropped into old habits.”
It wasn’t just technical execution that bothered Röhl. He noted visible anxiety among certain players, affecting their tempo and choices – such as defenders Emmanuel Fernandez and Nasser Djiga consistently picking the safe passes between each other rather than attempting to break the lines.
“There’s nervousness, yes,” he said.
“If you’re not confident, you don’t scan the picture before receiving the ball – and everything slows down.”
Röhl highlighted several missed opportunities to attack Falkirk’s advanced full-back on the right, describing the team’s decision-making as below the required level.
Despite acknowledging the need for reinforcements in January, he stressed the responsibility lies with the current group to show more belief, intelligence, and urgency.
In short: the clean sheet was fine, but the performance was a step backward – and Röhl knows it.
Rangers are however, now eight games undefeated in the league and have the chance to return to winning ways against Dundee United with a trip to Tannadice Park on Wednesday evening up next for the side.
Whether Röhl will rapidly change the side after the downturn today remains to be seen but there is scarce patience left amongst the fanbase for many of the summer signings who are yet to make any impression on the team this season – with the Gers once again boo’d off the park at full time.