Rohl leaves Rangers for Salzburg – is McInnes arrival imminent?

Danny Rohl has left Rangers after just eight months in charge to become Red Bull Salzburg’s head coach – with the club saying news of his replacement “will follow in due course”.

Hearts head coach Derek McInnes is widely expected to be the German’s successor as Rangers ready themselves to appoint a third boss in 12 months.

Rohl, 37, replaced Russell Martin in October and steered Rangers into a three-way title fight, but a post-split collapse yielded a third-place finish behind Celtic and Hearts as the Ibrox club ended the campaign without silverware.

Chairman Andrew Cavenagh publicly backed Rohl at the end of the season, but the German now returns to the Red Bull stable, having begun his coaching career at Leipzig under Ralph Hasenhuttl.

“I’d like to thank Danny for his service and commitment to Rangers,” Cavenagh said.

“He and his staff put in a significant amount of hard work during his time in charge, which we are greatly appreciative of.

“We wish them the best of luck moving forward.”

Rohl, who had two years left on his deal, departs to take over a Salzburg side that came third in Austria last season – the club’s lowest finish in two decades – and will enter the Europa League at the third qualifying round, the same stage as Rangers.

Daniel Beichler was sacked as Salzburg boss last month after just 14 games.

Rohl joined Hasenhuttl at Southampton in 2018, then moved to Bayern Munich as assistant to Hansi Flick and helped the club win the Bundesliga. He was then appointed Sheffield Wednesday manager in 2023.

Rohl’s exit is slightly embarrassing for Cavenagh as he’s gone out on a limb to defend the manager in the face of criticism from fans.

I wonder if Rohl was ever really happy at Rangers. He never gave the impression he was totally at ease with the league.

I think the club have done everything to try to put him at ease and they gave him money to spend, but I’m not sure he’s ever been a natural fit for Scottish football.

For Rangers, McInnes is a no-brainer, an obvious call.

He’s very experienced, a gnarled pro in Scotland, there’s nothing he doesn’t know about this league. His worth ethic is through the roof.

He would be a very good fit for Rangers.

Rohl’s Rangers record across all competitions stands at 22 wins, 11 losses and seven draws in 40 fixtures.

Having initially withdrawn from the running to replace Russell Martin, he had a change of heart and took the job after the club were unable to secure Steven Gerrard or Kevin Muscat.

The German revived Rangers’ fortunes following an abject start to the season, turning the team from mid-table stragglers to title contenders.

However, Rangers wilted post-split, as a run of four straight defeats in their final five games wrecked their hopes of a first Premiership crown in five years.

Being eliminated from both domestic cups by Old Firm rivals Celtic further heightened fans’ frustrations and turned up the pressure on Rohl.

However, Cavenagh – whose American consortium took control a year ago – moved to quell speculation over the head coach’s future last month amid reported interest from Wolfsburg and vowed Rohl would oversee a “summer of substantial change”.

Rohl was given funds to bring in four players in January and Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland has already been lured from Hearts as a squad reshape beckoned in his first summer at the helm.

However, that will now fall to a new manager, with little time to waste in Rangers’ recruitment process as the squad are scheduled to return to training this week.