da 888casino： Danny Röhl has made an encouraging start to life as Rangers manager, but there is still plenty of work to do.
da bet7k： Last Sunday’s 3-0 drubbing of Dundee makes it three Premiership victories out of three for the German, likely to maintain that perfect record when bottom-of-the-table Livingston visit Ibrox after the international break.
However, the Gers remain rock bottom of the Europa League table without a point to their name, beaten by both Sturm Graz and Roma under Röhl, while also dumped out of the League Cup in the semi-finals by Celtic, albeit Thelo Aasgaard’s red card at Hampden did not help their cause.
So, having inherited a complete mess, Röhl is still figuring out which plays he can rely on as well as who he wants to build around for the future.
Jack Butland, James Tavernier, John Souttar and Nicolas Raskin have quickly established themselves as key figures, with the new manager showing faith in expensive new striker Youssef Chermiti too.
However, other players are not seeing as much game time as they may have anticipated, so is one summer signing in danger of becoming the club’s latest Óscar Cortés?
Óscar Cortés: Rangers transfer bust
One of Rangers’ 14 summer signings, officially at least, Cortés was one, albeit he’d been with the club since 1 February 2024 on loan.
Despite making little impact in Glasgow, the Colombian’s move from Lens was made permanent for £4.5m, due to a pre-agreed obligation to buy.
At the time of his arrival, Rangers supporters were very excited, considering Cortés had starred at the 2023 U20 World Cup, scoring four goals and registering two assists for Colombia, awarded the tournament’s Bronze Ball.
Scout António Mango thereby labelled him an “insane talent”, while the Rangers Journal forecast that he would “provide pace, power and… goal contributions” to Rangers’ forward line, which certainly has not been the case thus far.
In just 21 appearances to date, 764 minutes, he has scored only one goal for the Gers, missing 58 matches entirely, the majority of which have been due to injury.
Thus, he was sent out on loan to Sporting Gijón on deadline day, but is yet to do very much in the Segunda División either, as his market value continues to diminish at a rapid rate.
So now, which current Rangers forward could follow a similar path if he continues to be under-utilised by Röhl?
Rangers star becoming Cortés repeat
They say that first impressions are the most important, and Oliver Antman certainly made a good one at Rangers.
The Finnish forward joined from Go Ahead Eagles for a reported fee of £3.5m, thrown straight into Champions League qualifying action.
Less than 24 hours after landing in Glasgow, Antman put in a man of the match performance as Rangers demolished Viktoria Plzeň 3-0, providing two assists and playing a starring role in, by some distance, the club’s best performance of the ill-fated Russell Martin era.
Considering the forward’s performances in the Netherlands last season, his signature was viewed as a major coup, as the table below documents.
Goals
6
38th
Assists
15
1st
Expected assists
9.1
1st
Big chances created
16
1st
Shots
54
22nd
Key passes
50
10th
Big chances missed
11
7th
Goal-creating actions
19
4th
Progressive carries
96
10th
As the table documents, Antman was one of the most creative players in the Eredivisie last season, racking up 15 assists as well as ranking first for expected assists and big chances created.
This is made all the more impressive by the fact he was not playing for one of the Netherlands’ traditional powerhouses, his Go Ahead Eagles team ending up seventh, albeit they did win the KNVB Beker for the very first time, defeating AZ Alkmaar on penalties, with Antman starting the final victory at De Kuip.
Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout was certainly impressed, labelling him “creative” while, upon his arrival, sporting director Kevin Thelwell described him as an “exciting talent” who boasts “great technical ability”.
However, following that promising start to life at Rangers, Antman has not lived up to expectations, registering just a solitary assist since his blistering debut, yet to score for his new club.
Furthermore, since starting Röhl’s first match as manager against Brann, Antman has been an unused substitute on three occasions, coming off the bench against Celtic and Dundee, but making very little impact.
In the German’s 3-4-3 formation too, there is one fewer attacking position up for grabs, very much currently behind Chermiti, Danilo, Djeidi Gassama, Mikey Moore, all of whom have scored in recent matches, and others in the pecking order.
Antman is clearly a quality player, he’s already shown glimpses of this in a Rangers jersey, and unlike Cortés, availability is not a huge barrier to him featuring in matches.
Nevertheless, the Finn is seemingly currently not in Röhl’s plans, so a January loan is very much not out of the question, and he is in danger of becoming the latest big-money signing to disappear out of Ibrox without a trace.
Ferguson 2.0: Rangers' "best player" is now more important than Tavernier
Rangers’ “best player” who is reminiscent of Barry Ferguson has emerged under Danny Röhl and it is not captain James Tavernier.