View: Danny Rohl regret on the cards as Rangers make defender call

Derek Cornelius has reportedly been ordered to train with Rangers‘ academy teams for the remainder of his loan spell at Ibrox, but Danny Rohl may regret that.

Signed on a season-long loan deal from French giants Marseille in this season’s summer transfer window, Cornelius looked to be an exciting addition at Ibrox.

The 28-year-old central defender has played 25 times for Marseille, and has 40 caps for Canada at international level on his CV too.

However, he hasn’t kicked a ball in Glasgow since Rangers’ 3-0 win over Dundee back on 9 November 2025, and shortly thereafter underwent surgery to fix a significant muscle injury.

Why Rangers could regret Derek Cornelius first-team exile

Now, according to a report from Read Rangers journalist Jack Cranmer via X on Tuesday, Rangers have told Cornelius to train away from the first-team and with the academy sides for the rest of his loan spell.

Rangers have the option to buy Cornelius from Marseille this summer, but his injury issues compounded by this latest reported exile now surely means that it’s highly unlikely that option will be triggered.

However, even if Ibrox decision-makers are already set on not signing him permanently at the end of the season, ordering him to train away from the first-team group – if true – seems particularly, and unessecesarily harsh.

It wasn’t his choice to get injured, and prior to doing so, he was actually putting in some impressive performances for Gers, and so if closing in on a return to fitness, he could still offer plenty in Rangers’ run-in.

As per Sofascore, Cornelius has registered a passing accuracy of 87 per cent this season, whilst also making 6.4 clearances per game and making zero errors leading to a single shot or goal.

He’s also won 67 per cent of his ground duels, 64 per cent of his total duels, created one big chance and taken an average of 83.7 touches per 90 minutes this term.

The Canadian has also contributed a goal and an assist from his seven Premiership appearances for Rangers, which he no doubt would’ve added more to had he avoided injury.

Rohl could risk damaging squad harmony with Cornelius call

Naturally, only those inside Ibrox know what’s truly going on inside the Rangers dressing room from a relationships and squad harmony perspective.

However, banishing a player from first-team involvement for seemingly no obvious reason, may not go down well with the rest of the senior squad.

It’s certainly quite a drastic measure – again, if true – for Rohl to take on Cornelius, and one that there isn’t really any coming back from.

Therefore, should Rangers suffer a major injury crisis in central defence in the coming games, and Cornelius is fit enough to play, then this wouldn’t be a great look for Rohl at all.

Updated 24/7 with expert analysis from the heart of Govan.