The Ibrox boss is building positive momentum amid a rollercoaster campaign
17:50, 28 Nov 2025Updated 21:15, 28 Nov 2025
Danny Rohl
Connor Barron reckons Rangers are at least playing with the shackles off under new boss Danny Rohl. And he’s not the first Ibrox star to say something similar since the German replaced Russell Martin.
But the irony is – and it was proved again on Thursday night against Braga – that unless Gers tighten up they won’t achieve anything. Rangers players might feel like they’ve been liberated by their new head coach.
But that will count for nothing if they continue to concede poor goals – and fail to take their chances at the other end. Barron knows it. He was one of Gers’ best performers in the 1-1 Europa League draw against the Portuguese outfit in midweek.
But the 26-year-old still came off the pitch feeling exasperated that Rohl’s men didn’t pick up a much-needed win. And ultimately, after leading 1-0 against 10 men at Ibrox, it was sloppiness which cost them.
Nasser Djiga’s mistake from a harmless Braga cross allowed the visitors to equalise and leave Glasgow with a point. Barron accepts they have to be far more decisive in both boxes if they’re going to be successful under Rohl. But the midfielder is adamant they ARE getting better and it’s down to the manager allowing them to express themselves more on the pitch.
Rangers’ Scottish midfielder #08 Connor Barron (vies with Sporting Braga’s Uruguayan midfielder #10 Rodrigo Zalazar(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Ahead of tomorrow’s Premiership clash with Falkirk in Govan, Barron said: “I’ve seen a lot of differences and improvements since the manager came in. I feel like we’re playing with a lot more freedom and the boys are taking advantage of that.
“Obviously we have to pick up results – and in the league we’ve done that. But Thursday was a disappointing one for us.”
The Braga result was Rangers’ first Europa League point of the campaign but their qualification hopes still hang by a thread.
With just three games left in the group phase – against Ferencvaros, Ludogorets and Porto – they’ll need to win them all to stand a chance of progressing.
They should have beaten Braga after leading through James Tavernier’s penalty just before half-time then having a man advantage when Uruguayan Rodrigo Zalazar was sent off.
In the end, Gers had to settle for a draw with Rohl claiming they’d taken a step forward.
Barron agrees and says this Euro display was a level up from previous defeats against Sturm Graz, Genk and Brann Bergen.
Now, he wants them to follow it up with a victory in the league. He said: “On Thursday we showed something we haven’t shown in the previous Europa League games so we can take confidence from that, in terms of the performance.
“But in terms of a result, we still need to work on that and we believe we can.
“Hopefully we can carry the performance into Sunday. We have to do that.
“The fixtures come thick and fast here but we’ve got to go and deal with that.
“We have to pick up maximum points on Sunday.”
Rangers’ James Tavernier celebrates as he scores from the penalty spot to make it 1-0(Image: SNS Group)
Barron knew it was an opportunity lost against Braga after being in the driving seat. He refused to pin any blame on on-loan Wolves defender Djiga who has struggled for form since arriving at Ibrox.
But the Scotland midfielder realises they simply can’t afford to keep gifting opposition teams goals. He said: “Look, we’re disappointed we didn’t get the three points. But I thought for large spells in the game, we were good and dealt with the conditions really well.
“We have to be more clinical in front of goal. I felt we got into good areas but their goal killed us in the end.I see signs of progress but we’re still disappointed. We need to go again on Sunday now.
“The frustration is not winning it when they went down to 10 men. We had a good foothold in the game and maybe just didn’t take advantage of having the extra man.
“It’s obviously frustrating (to lose cheap goals). But we’ll stick together and work on it. We need to cut that out of our game.”
Tavernier scored his 21st European goal for Rangers from the spot on Thursday night – equalling club legend Ally McCoist’s tally. But afterwards, the captain couldn’t get excited about personal accolades with his side failing to win.
Rangers Head Coach Danny Rohl(Image: SNS Group)
And it was the same for Barron. He picked up the man-of-the-match award for an impressive display in Rohl’s engine room. But he says that means nothing to him if the team isn’t picking up victories.
He said: “Personally, I felt like I did well on Thursday night but the focus has to be on the team and getting three points. We didn’t do that and we’re disappointed with just one.
“We have to try and win the last three games now, 100 percent. And the belief is in there to go and do it. That’s our aim – but we have another game on Sunday to focus on first.”