Rangers finally have a new manager.
Earlier this year, the Gers took 102 days to appoint Russell Martin, but then he lasted only 122 days in the job, sacked following a 1-1 draw at Falkirk earlier this month.
After talks with Steven Gerrard and Kevin Muscat, Rangers unveiled Danny Röhl as their new manager on Monday.
The 36 year old has previously worked as an assistant at RB Leipzig, Southampton, Bayern Munich and the German national team, while overseeing 89 matches in charge of Sheffield Wednesday in the EFL Championship.
His first match in charge will be Thursday night’s Europa League tie with Brann, before sitting in the Ibrox dugout for the first time when Kilmarnock visit on Sunday.
Of course, given how bad things had got under Martin, the Gers currently sitting sixth in the Scottish Premiership table, the team are only likely to improve, but could this appointment be particularly good news for the club’s new Ryan Kent?
Ryan Kent's Rangers career
Few players in the post-liquidation era have starred at Rangers quite as much as Kent.
After impressing on loan from Liverpool in the 2018/19 season, the Light Blues paid around £7.5m to make his move to Govan permanent, meaning he remains the third-most expensive signing in the club’s entire history, behind only Tore André Flo and summer signing Youssef Chermiti.
Kent made 218 appearances in a Rangers jersey, scoring 33 goals and registering 56 assists, with countless renditions of “Kent will tear you apart again” could be heard all over Scotland and farther afield.
He won both a Premiership title and the Scottish Cup, also a key figure in the side that reached the Europa League Final in 2022, starting all nine knockout phase ties, scoring against Crvena zvezda en route to Seville.
The Englishman was known for his tricky wing play and end product, almost inarguably the best wide-attacker Rangers have seen since liquidation in 2012.
However, could he be eclipsed by a current member of the squad, one who stands to benefit massively from Röhl’s arrival?
Rangers' new Ryan Kent
Rangers made 13 new signings this summer and, fair to say, supporters are yet to be impressed by the vast majority of them.
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Joe Rothwell, Nasser Djiga and Jayden Meghoma have appeared out of their depth, while neither Youssef Chermiti nor Emmanuel Fernandez have been given much of a chance to show what they can produce to date, to name but a few.
Thus, pretty much indisputably, the pick of the bunch is winger Djeidi Gassama.
The Mauritania-born, French youth international has been described as the club’s “shining light” so far this season by former Rangers right-back Alan Hutton, with the table below documenting why.
Minutes
1,310
3rd
Goals
5
1st
Assists
2
3rd
Shots
25
1st
Shots on target
7
1st
Successful dribbles per 90
2.3
1st
Attempted take-ons
17
1st
Successful take-ons
5
1st
Progressive carries
16
1st
Big chances created
1
3rd
Key passes per 90
1.3
4th
Shot-creating actions
10
1st
As the table documents, Gassama has instantaneously made himself one of the first names on the team sheet, given that only goalkeeper Jack Butland and centre-back John Souttar have played more minutes across all competitions so far.
The numbers support exactly why this is the case, with the 22-year-old the club’s joint-top scorer, alongside James Tavernier, while also ranked first when it comes to shooting and dribbling, as well as being highly ranked in terms of chance creation.
To date, all five of Gassama’s goals for the club have come in Europe, on target home and away against Panathinaikos in Champions League qualifying, before bagging a brace when Viktoria Plzeň visited Ibrox in the subsequent round, most recently firing home, ultimately in vain, as the Gers were beaten 2-1 by Sturm Graz earlier this month.
The winger joined Rangers this summer for a reported fee of £2.2m from crisis club Sheffield Wednesday, where he, of course, played under Röhl.
During the German’s time at Hillsborough, only Josh Windass, an ex-Rangers player, scored more goals for the Owls than Gassama’s tally of 12, while he played the joint-most games under Röhl (81), alongside Scotland international Barry Bannan.
Earlier this week, Gassama stated that Röhl “is like a father to me”, adding that “he taught me how to play my position…. he is a good manager with a lot of good ideas and I think he will help us to win games. It is good for us to have him here”.
Given the Gers’ jam-packed schedule, the new head coach is not going to have a lot of time on the training ground, so will surely lean on Gassama, a player he knows and trusts.
The winger is clearly delighted to be reunited with the German, so everything is set up for him to only improve.
What Gassama has shown already is a mercurial dribbling ability as well as an eye for goal, particularly in European competition, something that used to be Kent’s trademark during his five years in Govan.
At just 22 years old, and likely to be made a central figure in a Rangers team in desperate need of a leader and a spark so, should Röhl manage to improve Gassama even more, he could surpass Kent’s legacy at Ibrox.