Danny Rohl has implored the Rangers’ board to be ‘brave and bold’ in the January transfer window with his side still in contention to win the Premiership.
Thelo Aasgaard’s second half goal against Motherwell saw the Ibrox side move up to third place in the table on a day when they cut the gap to leaders Hearts to nine points with a game in hand.
Rangers face St Mirren at home on Tuesday in the final match of the year before attention switches to how the head coach will be able to improve his squad for the second half of the campaign.
And with everything still to play for this season, Rohl is hopeful that his paymasters can deliver a number of signings which can yet make a difference to the final outcome.
‘I had a good meeting with Andrew (Cavenagh) this morning,’ said Rohl after the game.
‘One guideline for me is that on and off the pitch we have to be brave and bold in our decisions.
Rohl was indebted to goalkeeper Jack Butland for a strong performance against Motherwell
Thelo Aasgaard scores the only goal of the game in Rangers’ 1-0 win over Motherwell
‘In the transfer market, if you are convinced in the board and in the club then we should go all in and try it. This is what I want to see from myself, but also from us as a club that we are brave enough to make strong decisions.’
Rohl’s team started sluggishly against the Steelmen and would have been behind at the break had it not been for some fine saves by Jack Butland.
An improved second half display saw Aasgaard net just his second goal for Rangers to seal a narrow but important victory.
Reflecting on a game which saw both sides spurn a number of chances, Rohl added: ‘I’m happy for the result. At the end, we missed so many chances.
‘I think the first 15 minutes, we are not so much in the game. Then we changed something in the pressing and that helped us a lot.
‘After this, we were good in the game create a lot of good moments, but we were not clinical enough in the transition moments.
‘Finally, we scored the first one (Nico Raskin) which was disallowed and the second one was allowed. In the end, I’m happy for the three points against a team who tries really to play football.
Thelo Aasgaard celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Motherwell
‘I think for a neutral supporter, I think was enjoyable game. Both teams tried something. At the end we won the game and this is the most important thing.
‘I’m not looking too much to the data, but if you have 28 shots, a lot of big opportunities, three against one, you have to close out the game.
‘I think this is what we have to do. There’s no excuse.’
Rohl was indebted to Butland who bounced back from a poor display in the loss to Hearts to shut Motherwell out.
‘A big respect to Jack today,’ he said.
‘I think he was criticised after the Hearts game, but today he was outstanding and had an exceptional performance.’
Rohl wasn’t about to get carried away despite his side taking full advantage of Hearts’ loss in the Edinburgh derby.
‘I think after all the games, I’m very calm,’ he said.
‘The league is very competitive, a lot of challenges and it’s not easy to get points.
‘We have to be stronger in this marathon. We need more power, more effort until the end and then we will see what happens.’
Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou was convinced his side were denied a penalty when Manny Fernandez appeared to catch Lukas Fadinger in the box as they chased an equaliser.
‘There’s something that I will take with me into my grave, without understanding how we don’t get a penalty at the end,’ he said.
‘He clearly tripped Lukas going free on an open goal.
‘That is unacceptable and probably another of these where we get an excuse in a couple of weeks.
‘But we can’t dwell on it, because in three days we have another big game and we have to get ready to deliver another one of these similar performances.
Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou was furious his side were denied a penalty
‘At times it was some of the best football we’ve played in the season.
‘The way we started the game by dominating all the bases completely, being all over them, playing through the press, winning the ball back.
‘There was good counter-press, good defence and we created two huge opportunities.
‘Then obviously they started to get a little bit of grip of the game, we lost a little bit of control possession, which allowed them to find momentum and get back into the game.
‘We were a little bit too open on our defensive structure, which allowed them to play through the centre a few times and show how good the players they have in the team.
‘Both goalkeepers needed to pull out one hell of a performance to make it a game of just one goal.’
