First, it was James Tavernier. Now, it’s Derek Cornelius.
There are always two sides to every story, of course, but this latest example of an experienced, high-profile player coming out in public to talk about being hurt or disrespected by the treatment afforded to them just makes you feel all the more that head coach Danny Rohl is no answer for Rangers.
Certainly, Cornelius’ account of the latter stages of his loan from Marseille is a bit of a headscratcher. What happened with Tavernier earlier in the month, prior to what was supposed to be his final performance at Ibrox after 11 years, was an embarrassment.
Cornelius had looked pretty steady during the 12 appearances he made before injuring his hamstring on international duty with Canada in November. He looked like a guy who could be a decent member of the squad, an older, wiser head capable of helping a defence that had been through a torrid time.
Yet, he was never seen again. He finished the campaign frozen-out of the first-team set-up completely. Anyone who had watched Nasser Djiga and Manny Fernandez form a real Keystone Cops partnership at the back earlier in the season always held the fear they would melt in the heat of a title battle — and so it proved.
Rohl, of course, should have done much more to bolster the rearguard during the January window than just sign Tuur Rommens at left-back. Anyone watching properly could see that. Seventeen goals shipped in the last seven games of the campaign tell their own story.
Rangers boss Danny Rohl suddenly finds himself with huge question marks hanging over him
Cornelius was still out injured in January, but it seemed a no-brainer that he’d be back in the mix when fit. Instead, he talks about Rohl having no contact with him during his rehab. He says he was never given a reason why he wasn’t considered when banished from first-team training after a couple of sessions back.
His assertion he left the club feeling ‘disrespected’ is not a good look. Not after everything else that has been going on in recent months.
Rohl was asked for his side of the story regarding Cornelius in March after releasing him early to join up with his national squad. He talked about needing one more conversation with the player and seeing how things went from there.
It was all as clear as mud, really. Like it often tends to be with the German.
Look at the chaos that surrounded what ought to have been Tavernier’s last night in Light Blue at Ibrox against Hibs.
Put aside the fact the Englishman spent at least a couple of years too long at Rangers. Forget the fact it was absolutely clear in the season just gone that he’d completely run out of steam.
Derek Cornelius looked a good bet before injury intervened and his time at Ibrox fizzled out
The Hibs game meant nothing for Rangers. They had already imploded. The title had long since slipped through their grasp and disappeared over the horizon in quite pathetic fashion.
You can talk all you like about no player being bigger than a club and that’s fine, but what was the harm in letting Tavernier walk out the team for one last time with his kids and in front of the rest of his family? In the end, it all became a classless mess.
The 34-year-old talked about being ‘deeply hurt and let down’. The whole business of booking and rescheduling an injection before the Hibs match remains confusing, but Rohl should have allowed him that one last start. He didn’t. He told Tavernier he was sticking him on the bench.
The way it worked out, the 34-year-old didn’t play at all. He appeared in his suit and tie pre-match for a strange, low-key, faintly sad, presentation from John Greig.
Reports had surfaced pre-match that he had left Ibrox and refused to be involved in the matchday squad at all. It was crazy.
Amid a statement criticising the version of events that had been presented by Rohl, he conceded: ‘A lack of communication allowed matters to escalate unnecessarily.’
It also ended with Rohl having to deny suggestions of a rift within the club as a result of a number of Rangers players past and present supporting Tavernier on social media.
James Tavernier wipes away tears as he is presented with a farewell plaque by John Greig
‘It shows how strong the relationship is between the players,’ he said. ‘I do not take it personally and, if there is a like or a repost, it is more about that.’
He can say what he likes. The team certainly didn’t play as though it was underpinned by strong relationships towards the end of the campaign.
Rohl had won just eight out of his last 18 fixtures in all competitions when it all wound up with a victory at Falkirk. Against teams in the top six of the Premiership, he won seven out of 17. It’s atrocious for a squad that had £10million spent on it in the January window and still couldn’t keep weans out of a close.
Rohl bristled constantly about questions being asked of the players’ mentality within press conferences that were becoming odder and progressively more cryptic thanks to his refusal to go into detail about injuries or identify individuals that were doubtful or receiving treatment.
From memory, there were no explanations either about why John Souttar was unexpectedly bombed out of the team for the matches that decided the title when it was clear the mix in defence wasn’t right.
Maybe, like Cornelius, Nedim Bajrami will also go away on international duty at some point in the future and give his tuppence worth on what on earth went on when he came in from nowhere to play the closing stages of the Scottish Cup quarter-final loss to Celtic, did reasonably well and was then never seen again.
Sure, Rohl walked into a blast zone following the chaotic reign of Russell Martin. There are major improvements needed to the squad he was working with. However, it cannot be forgotten that, after beating Hearts in February, Rangers were only two points behind the league leaders with Celtic in freefall — and they blew it.
Rohl was schooled by Celtic’s boss Martin O’Neill in a season that has set alarm bells ringing
Winning, naturally, is the main, defining factor for a successful Old Firm manager. Keeping squads happy is important too. Having established players with no prior reputation for being troublemakers come out and have a pop at you in public rings alarm bells.
It’s only a small vignette, but look across the city of Glasgow at Martin O’Neill. Marcelo Saracchi isn’t getting a contract at the end of his loan from Boca Juniors. He hasn’t been starting, hasn’t been getting much game time.
Yet, he comes off the bench in that final-day decider against Hearts and has a stormer. Makes a huge contribution to winning a title and is embraced by O’Neill in the dressing room afterwards. Helps maintain harmony despite his own personal situation.
O’Neill, an old man who had been six years out of football, schooled Rohl last term. He highlighted so many of his deficiencies .
Cornelius coming out of the woodwork to vent over his treatment just adds to the suspicion that the one-time Sheffield Wednesday manager simply isn’t cut out for the particular challenges of life as an Old Firm boss.
What happened with Cornelius at Ibrox is a bit of a mystery all right. Not half as mystifying, though, as why chairman Andrew Cavenagh is hanging his hat — and his reputation — on Rohl for next term.
