Emmanuel Fernandez has accepted responsibility for Rangers F.C. failing to sustain their Scottish Premiership title challenge after Sunday’s damaging 3-1 defeat to Celtic F.C..
The loss at Celtic Park ended Rangers’ realistic hopes of winning the league title with only two matches left this season. Danny Rohl’s side had taken an early lead through Mikey Moore before Yang restored parity for Celtic. Daizen Maeda later scored twice to seal victory for the hosts.
Fernandez has remained one of Rangers’ most consistent defenders this season. The Nigerian centre-back has scored six goals in 31 appearances across all competitions.
He also recently earned his first call-up to the Nigeria national football team, scoring on his full international debut against Jordan after featuring in the win over Iran days earlier. His performances have stood out despite Rangers’ difficult finish to the campaign.
The 24-year-old refused to hide from criticism following Rangers’ third straight defeat during the title run-in.
“I couldn’t pinpoint an issue,” Fernandez said. “But I just feel like maybe we needed to have a bit more fight. I can’t say we have been unlucky.”
“I can take stick for it because there are certain moments I probably should have defended better. There is nothing I can say about my teammates – I will probably just look at myself, if anything.”
Rangers also lost recent league matches against Motherwell and Hearts. Those setbacks weakened their title push before the Old Firm defeat delivered another major blow.
Fernandez believes Rangers can grow from the difficult experience. He stressed the importance of resilience during difficult moments in matches.
“Yes, 100 percent I totally understand that. We knew it was going to be a fight,” he added.
“There were moments in games where we had to fight. But in football there are going to be moments where you struggle and go under in the 90 minutes.”
“I feel that, as a young team if we are going to grow, you are going to struggle but you stick together and defend together. Then, when you come out of it, you have opportunities to score. That is something we have to improve on.”
Fernandez also apologised to Rangers fans ahead of the club’s final games against Hibernian and Falkirk.
“Look, we’re disappointed. We know that we should have done better in the last three games,” he stated.
“We feel sorry for the fans. But now we have to pick ourselves up. There are two games to go and we have to win these two games for the fans.”
“When next season comes we’ll have a good side. First and foremost I apologise to the fans.”
Fernandez and Rangers now face pressure to respond positively next season, with supporters expecting stronger performances, greater consistency, and a more determined title challenge throughout campaign.
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