The Final Countdown is on for Danny Röhl, lose to Celtic this weekend and the same cycle begins, gone by October…

Danny Röhl spoke about having to face five Cup finals before the commencement of the post-split fixtures.

Two Cup finals in, and it’s already two losses from two.

By next Sunday morning, for the Ibrox side at least, their game against us could be a dead rubber.

Well, dead rubber strictly in terminology, but certainly not in reality.

No game between the Ibrox side and us is ever a calm affair, and on Sunday, pride may be the only thing they have left to play for.

It’s an entirely different story for us.

Regardless of what happens at Fir Park the night before, the mission for us is simple.

Win, and win well.

For Danny Röhl, its an opportunity to salvage some pride in another trophyless season for the club that proudly boasted about the fact that they spent close to £50 million on player purchases.

The German doesn’t have much else to play for.

But in reality, whether he sees it coming down the tracks or not, Röhl is probably playing to retain his job.

When Michael Beale won the dead rubber between us and them back at the end of the 2022/23 season, we already had the title in the bag.

As a result, nobody took the loss too hard – especially not Ange Postecoglou – who in his own head was already on his way to Tottenham Hotspur.

But what it did do was grant Beale a stay of execution.

The media harped on about the “summer bragging rights” and that the result was a sign of what Beale was going to do to us the next season.

At Ibrox, its always about the next season.

But as Murph said on R*****s Radio after Sunday’s defeat, “we’ve got nothing left bar the sash”.

And the sash is what they’ve had for every season, bar one, since 2012 when it comes to the League title.

For Röhl, at least from a personal perspective, Sunday is a must win game for him.

His Ibrox career depends on it.

Because despite the fact that everybody thought the American takeover might change attitudes internally towards the Ibrox fanbase, it hasn’t.

The clubs backing of the Onion Bears after the Scottish Cup quarter-final tells us that much.

In essence, the lunatics continue to run the asylum over there.

So, imagine the reaction if Röhl and his side are on the end of a heavy defeat at Celtic Park next Sunday afternoon?

They’re pissed enough as it is after the last two results.

A loss to us will send them over the edge completely.

And make no mistake, if that happens, the hoards will be baying for blood.

Namely Röhl’s.

If he did manage to pull off a win, like Beale, it would grant him nothing more than a stay of execution.

Of course, they will be crowned “Close Season Cup” champions, and summer bragging rights will be entirely theirs.

The feel good factor will be around for the whole summer, along with the sash, so it will be all good for a while.

Then those pesky football games will come around again.

You know, those things that demand immediate results?

This is the problem for Röhl.

He has no leeway.

He cannot even afford to draw a game during the opening fixtures because he will be under so much scrutiny.

I’ll make an educated guess and say that by October, things will have come full Ibrox cycle.

The klanbase will be baying for Röhl’s blood, and no doubt, the team bus will be chased away from another away venue.

Because it always seems to be on the road that they drop points.

The Americans will be left with no choice but to give in to the baying hoards, and so the 18 month Ibrox cycle will begin again.

That’s what is riding on next Sunday’s Glasgow Derby for Danny Röhl.

Essentially, there’s actually more pressure on him than there is on Martin O’Neill and Sean Maloney.

One way or another, after Sunday’s game, the Final Countdown will begin for him.

The only thing that can save him now is winning the League.

Whoops, that chance slipped away on Monday night, didn’t it?

I’d have some sympathy for the guy if he was managing any other football club.

But as the old saying goes, “if you’re looking for sympathy, you’ll find it between shit and syphilis in the dictionary”.

Anybody stupid enough to take on the job of managing that club gets what they deserve.

The accolade of joining the Ibrox manager scrapheap that has piled higher and higher since 2012.

That’s where Danny Röhl is now headed.

He just hasn’t accepted it yet.

But he will, and when that day comes, he’ll walk out the door of Murray Park feeling relieved that its all over.

Its the same feeling every manager feels when they depart that place.

Sad but true.

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