Every word from Danny Rohl on Rangers’ Andreas Skov Olsen pursuit

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How pleased are you to sign Tuur Rommens?

Yeah, I'm very happy.  I'm very happy that he is here now. I think we worked hard to make this deal done. He will bring us a physical side as well to the team. I think he's very strong in the defence at this moment, also the offensive. We have to build him up. I think this is the next couple of days. It's about building up him so that he's ready to play games. From this point, I think it's also important. Jayden has done an outstanding job in the last couple of weeks. I think this is great. Then we have a new player who is, of course, for long-term for us as well. It's very helpful that we have this position covered.

When will Tuur be available?

No, he will not be available for the next 10 to 14 days around this. If it's one day longer, please be not too strong with me. But, yeah, it's a little bit in this direction. I think we have to make sure. I think this is always, not just by him, always in general a little bit the topic. In the past, you have some players that come from pre-season, some players had a longer break, some players had some minutes. You have to bring them straight to a group. They are really playing for weeks and months, together and through. This is now the job to do, that we have more from them in just one game.

How close are you to signing Andreas Skov Olsen?

I'm not a good poker player, yeah. But now we are in the process, it looks very positive. But as long as it's not confirmed and everything is through, then I cannot tell you too much. But, yeah, let's keep working like we did by the last two signings as well.

If you do get that deal over the line, what sort of signal would that be in this title race?

Yeah, the title race is very close at the moment. There are three teams, they are fighting for something. We make our job as best as we can. We were in the last couple of weeks very clear what we want to do and what we have to do, that's the good part. And from this point we go forward. I think still 14, 15 days to go. Let's see what is possible on the market. But, of course, if you have three players in very early, it's early for me, in the middle of the month, then we make so far a good job.

When were you aware of Skov Olsen?

Yeah, a lot of good situations. I was asking for a left foot on the right side. I think this is also part, because we have a lot of right foots, it gives us a different profile as well. He had a lot of goals in Brugge, and now it's about us. If he comes, if we bring him back to his best performance, and if he can do this, then of course he could be a great loan signing.

You said that you wanted the board to be brave in the transfer window…

I think I said this from the beginning, how we set up at the moment, and our communication, our direction is great. I think Andrew is very helpful. He is very on the front foot, I like this. But we are also very clear about what we want. I can always give my opinion, I give my recommendation. Then the recruitment gives me recommendations and suggests some players, and then we sit together again. And then we look through the videos, through the data, we make some calls to make sure how the characters are, and then we look if it's possible to do the deal or not. At the moment, we are very strong because we make strong decisions. We are not just talking, we are really acting at the moment and doing, and this is great. We prepare everything and we have to continue. We know we want to strengthen our squad. We have to be very competitive in the second half of the season.

Can you see the title race going right to the end?

It's funny because yesterday we spoke about the [summer] pre-season, we had a meeting about the camps and the friendly games, all those things. And then, finally, I said, 'Yeah, my belief at the moment is that we will have a race on the last matchday, with three teams, and you can be top, you can be second, or you can be third.' It's nice for the supporters. And for us, yeah, we have to prepare, we have to work on it. I think in the last few weeks we worked hard to have such a situation. But we know as well, it's still 16 games to go, where you have to deliver again and again. And let's see what we can do.

Is there an option to buy Skov Olsen?

I think to speak too much about it's difficult. But, yeah, looking just at the facts, I think he was a big signing for Wolfsburg. And then we always try to make sure if we can get players in, to have all the chance to stay permanent. I think this is generally our topic. Sometimes it's possible, sometimes it's not possible. At the moment I can't tell you more details about this.

Are you confident you could get the best out of him? 

Yeah, I think you see the potential from players. I think we have some good role models from the last couple of weeks now that helps us to get some players here to see how we can develop them in the short term. And if we can bring the best out of him, then he is, of course, a weapon on his position.

How many more signings do you expect?

I cannot tell you exactly the number, but we are still looking for some more positions. I think this is not a secret with the injury from Connor. It changed a little bit also what we need as well on this position. We have strong players, we have with Chukwuani a new one, but there's still a long way to go and we have to make sure that our midfield is strong.

How encouraged are you by the club being willing to go again?

I think it's also the responsibility for me now, when the club supports me and invests in the squad, that we get the best out of the squad. In the summer I was not here, but when we look now, after six months, you see still players, we hit the target. I think maybe in October we thought, are the players really ready? But now you see the players are able to play here and I think this is also important to understand. I can give a lot of examples from the players, but at the moment you really have the feeling that our players can play for Rangers. The shirt looks a little bit lighter than three months ago. You have more confidence. We go to difficult places and we can take results. But it was yesterday and now we have to show this again in the next games.

Are the players who experienced the Queen’s Park defeat determined to put that right?

Big respect to every opponent. I think this is important. You saw this in the last couple of days. Yesterday Real Madrid were put out of the cup, Crystal Palace are out of the cup. We never know. You have to be very focused on this game as well. I make sure we will rotate some positions. This is normal because some players also deserve to get the chance. I'm convinced even the players that come now in, they are ready for this game and should be ready. I think this is also part. We prepared this very seriously. We used this week of course also for some load management. Some players will not be in the squad tomorrow because they played a lot. But a cup is a cup game. Every opponent can defend and play with heart and passion. This is what we expect tomorrow. We have to break them down, hopefully as soon as possible. Then we can create chances and goals. But at first you have to put the same effort in like always.

Could a player like Andreas take you up a level?

I think in the final third, about decision-making, we still have space for improvement. We saw this even against Aberdeen. We arrived in some good moments, but we didn't have enough players in the box. I think this is also running into the box. We have four or five players around the dangerous areas. And then to prepare for the final action, this is sometimes where we miss some good opportunities. I think in general, the Aberdeen games, for example, we had a lot of good ball-winning situations, but we didn't always find the right solutions in transition moments. But of course, the new transfers and the new signings should also help us in this area that we can create more chances to score. But I'm still happy with the clean sheets, and this is, I think at the moment, also a big, big basic for us.

How big a factor is physicality?

I think it's always important when you know the league a little bit more what you have to expect. I think not just the league, even when you played against Roma, you saw a big difference from the physical side. But when I look yesterday at the training pitch, then I see, yeah, my team is growing, and we have more bodies and more physicality. This is great. I think you need a good balance. But football is about intensity, physicality, to endure. If you can do this, then you need around also some players to have this, yeah, X factor.