Former Rangers manager Danny Rohl has claimed one missed chance against Celtic changed the direction of last season and prevented his side from denying the Hoops a domestic double.
Reflecting on the match, Rohl suggested Tuur Rommens had the opportunity to finish Celtic off by putting Rangers three goals ahead.
“The stadium was on fire that day against Celtic,” Rohl told the Daily Record.
“If Tuur Rommens had scored with a chance to make it 3-0, Celtic would NOT have won the league OR the Scottish Cup.
“Because at that moment, we’d have gone four points ahead and we’d have killed them.”
It is a remarkable claim given how much football remained to be played after that game.
Rangers may have had the chance to move four points clear, but Celtic still had to show the mentality required to recover from two goals down at Ibrox.
Rather than being killed off, the Hoops responded under pressure and took a result from a match that appeared to be slipping away from them.
That comeback helped keep Celtic in the title race, while Rangers later lost momentum during the decisive closing weeks of the campaign.
Rohl’s side suffered four consecutive defeats after the split, with losses against Motherwell, Hearts and Celtic contributing to the collapse of their challenge.
He admitted that Rangers failed to take control of the moments that mattered.
“These are small moments,” Rohl said.
“But to win the league, you need that momentum to go with you. We just didn’t have that in our last few weeks together.”
Celtic eventually took full advantage.
O’Neill’s side completed the league turnaround before adding the Scottish Cup to finish the season with two major trophies.
Rohl’s suggestion that one missed chance cost Rangers both competitions will naturally attract attention, but Celtic’s success was built across the full campaign rather than one passage of play at Ibrox.
That ability to stay alive in difficult matches proved crucial, while Rangers were left looking back at a series of moments they failed to turn into victories.
Rohl may believe Rommens could have ended Celtic’s season with one finish, but the Hoops’ response ensured Rangers never got the chance to test that theory.
