Roll has to let Rangers flop after ‘unforgivable’ error

Glasgow Rangers lost 2-1 to Hearts on Sunday, their first loss in the Scottish Premiership since Danny Rolle replaced Russell Martin in the dugout.

The German head coach currently has six wins, two draws and one loss in the division as the Light Blues fail to move one place above the league leaders as they push towards an unlikely title.

Rangers were 2-0 down by half-time and the former Sheffield Wednesday manager made the ruthless decision to remove Mohamed Diomande from the pitch and bring on Youssef Chelmiti.

Why was it unfortunate that Mohamed Diomande was sacked?

The Ivorian central midfielder is available as he was not selected for his country’s AFCON squad, but unfortunately he had to be sent off during the break as his performance on the pitch was by no means the worst.

According to Sofascore, Diomande won 100% of his tackles, 100% of his aerial duels, and was never dribbled through. I only committed one foul, but luckily I didn’t get a yellow card, and I recovered the ball twice.

When in possession, the left-footed star lost the ball only five times out of 20 touches, completed 90% of his pass attempts and created just one chance for his team.

These stats show that he wasn’t too bad with or without the ball in the middle of the park, which was also the impression I got when watching the game live. Although he played well and did not dominate the midfield, Diomande was not a big liability that had to be sacked.

On the other hand, the Rangers’ underperforming star, who should be ruthlessly removed from the starting lineup by Coach Rohr, is an experienced star who has started every game under the new manager.

Rangers are the losers who have to fall eventually

The Light Blues head coach should remove Jack Butland from his squad for the next game against Motherwell at Ibrox after his disappointing performance against Hearts.

According to Sofascore, the former Stoke star has started every game under Rolle in all competitions so far, but the English shot-stopper was at his worst against Tynecastle.

First, it was his poor distribution that led to the set-piece that resulted in the first goal, his telegraphed, clipped pass being easily read and intercepted by Cammy Devlin.

He then experienced a second goal nightmare as Lawrence Shankland surprisingly found a way to beat him at the near post from an angle, as seen in the clip above.

Heart & Hand content creator David Edgar described it as an “unforgivable” mistake, while journalist Jonny MacFarlane said Butland “always gets three or four howlers a season”, which shows how frequent his mistakes are becoming.

The former England international was even worse than Diomande on Sunday. Because the central midfielder simply gave an average performance and withdrew somewhat harshly at half-time, while his two errors cost him two goals.

Butland’s mistakes became too frequent in 2025/26. His error against Hearts was his fifth in the Premiership resulting in a shot or goal, the most ever in a single season for Rangers despite it being only December.

As you can see from the table above, the 32-year-old’s failures have already made more mistakes in the Premiership and Europa League than last season.

His regression between the sticks is perfectly illustrated, as these stats show he has made more mistakes each season since signing in the summer of 2023. Simply put, he’s getting worse.

Liam Kelly has shown himself to be a capable secondary player in 2024/25, keeping five clean sheets in 12 games, and should be given the opportunity to make his first league appearance of the season in the next game against Motherwell.

The Light Blues will then be able to look at the situation when the January transfer window opens and see if there is an opportunity to move Butland and bring in a new number one who is less likely to make a major mistake.