Rangers manager Danny Rohl expressed his belief that his squad sent a powerful message in the championship race after overcoming a two-goal deficit to secure a resounding win against Falkirk on their turf.
The match began disastrously for Rangers, as they found themselves trailing 2-0 within the first 30 minutes, with Falkirk dominating play and threatening to widen the gap even more.
However, an explosive sequence of four goals over a span of 16 minutes, straddling halftime, completely transformed the game’s momentum. Rangers then added two more goals late in the match to seal their victory and claim the crucial three points.
Rohl disclosed that the players themselves took charge of a crucial discussion during the halftime break, and he sees this as a significant declaration regarding their entire season’s prospects.
“I’m delighted with the result,” Rohl stated. “The beginning was challenging and not ideal. We created our own problems and had to quickly adjust to both the playing conditions and the pitch.”
Rangers boss Danny Rohl says his players showed their ‘quality, spirit, belief and mentality’
Youssef Chermiti is mobbed by his team-mates after putting Rangers 5-3 ahead at Falkirk
John McGlynn says the defeat by Rangers will give his Falkirk players a kick up the backside
“The team’s response was vital, especially scoring to reduce the deficit to 2-1 before halftime,” he added.
‘I liked that the players were really honest with each other. Second half was just one direction. We played forward, created a lot of chances.
‘It’s now three games in a row with 14 goals, that shows how we want to play. It’s a consequence of the last few months and weeks. I try to give my team calmness and belief.
‘Of course, we also have to speak about the conceded goals because they were too easy. But overall, it’s great to see the group in this way.
‘I showed them solutions, but it’s about my players — they delivered today. They were very honest with each other at half-time.
‘My group has quality, spirit, belief and mentality to go until the end. It wasn’t necessary for me to give too many emotions at half-time because the players themselves were emotional. They spoke to each other. That shows we’re growing as a group and we have leaders in the right moments.
‘When I got here, it was quiet. I remember after the game in Bergen [a 3-0 defeat in his first game], I tried to start a conversation with the players but I spoke more than them.
‘Now, finally we’re growing. That’s normal, that’s the culture that we want. Very often, I’m asked about mentality. But this was a statement to say we don’t need to talk about this topic. We’ve shown mentality to come back.’
The victory moves Rangers back into second place, two points ahead of Celtic and one point behind leaders Hearts.
Rangers also gave their goal difference a handy boost. They are now five goals better off than Hearts and 11 better off than Celtic.
Rohl believes that could yet be pivotal in the outcome, noting: ‘To score 14 goals, that’s nice in three games. Not so long ago, we were talking about who could score and who couldn’t score.
‘Now we’ve had nine different scorers and that helps us. Maybe at the end, that could be the difference in the title race but nobody knows at the moment which direction it will go.
‘You can enjoy it because there will be stories until the end. We’ll just do our job to be part of that story.’
Meanwhile, Falkirk boss John McGlynn admitted the second half was nowhere near good enough as he lamented the soft nature of some of the goals his team conceded.
With regards to the Scottish Cup semi-final against Dunfermline next weekend, he said: ‘This could be the best thing that’s ever going to happen. It could be a kick up the backside.
‘We know that we really need to be at it next week. The games that Dunfermline won against Hibs and Aberdeen tell you that they are more than capable of beating Premiership opposition.
‘So we are under no illusions. The message will be getting hammered home this week. This could be the best thing that could happen to us to make sure that we get it right next week.
‘It’s not been like us to defend like we did today. From our point of view, it was so soft. We’ve done so many good things this season, so we won’t let this destroy us.’
