The Light Blues had the title mathematically taken out of their reach by the Hoops

15:11, 10 May 2026Updated 17:42, 10 May 2026

Rangers manager Danny Rohl

Deflated Danny Rohl refused to lean on “excuses” after two controversial calls in Rangers’ defeat to Celtic – and insisted he’s not the man to publicly attack referees.

The Light Blues saw their fading Premiership title hopes officially come to an end at Celtic Park after the defending Scottish champions ran out 3-1 winners.

It’s a third defeat in a row for Rangers that ruled the Glasgow giants out of the running for a top-two finish, leaving the Ibrox side frozen out of the Champions League running next term.

Rohl’s men will now be on the outside looking in as league leaders Hearts and Celtic battle for the league crown in the final week of the season.

The showdown between the Glasgow heavyweights was blighted by controversy as VAR refused to intervene in Yang’s goal, which cancelled out Youssef Chermiti’s opener.

Benjamin Nygren was standing near goalkeeper Jack Butland as the winger took his shot but was not ruled to be infringing on the goalkeeper’s view while in an offside position.

Later in the first half, Alistair Johnston flew into a tackle on Mikey Moore and was booked. However, replays appeared to show the yellow could have been upgraded to a red card if the off-field team had sent referee Nick Walsh to the pitchside monitor.

Speaking to Sky Sports about the incidents, Roh said: “I think in general I never look for excuses, but what I heard was maybe there is an offside, maybe there is a red card.

“Maybe there is decision making on the pitch, but I am not a manager who will publicly attack the refs.”

Former Rangers’ striker Kris Boyd batted away suggestions that Rohl was leaning on “excuses” after the lacklustre defeat.

He said “He is not making excuses. You can clearly see here Alistair Johnston is well over the ball going into the side of Mikey Moore there.

Celtic’s Alistair Johnston fouls Mikey Moore

“At the time we didn’t see that angle, but when you do see it from that angle it’s quite clearly over the top, and you have seen those red cards given this season. From Danny Rohl’s point of view, that is not an excuse – that is a red card.”

However, he refused to let off the German completely amid mounting speculation over his future: “What is worrying though would be the drop off from his team, continuously.

“When they play in spells, they look good, but when you need to suffer in moments, Rangers fold. That is the time where you need leaders.

“You need to pull them in, be harder to play through. It’s concerning the drop off from one half to another.

“There will be serious questions asked of Danny Rohl. He has already batted the mentality one away, but there is a mentality problem in that group – no doubt about it.”

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