Rangers ready to move to the next level under GVB

The 2021/22 campaign turned into a pretty mixed season of success for Rangers. Coming into the season we were looking to defend our first Scottish Premiership title win in the last decade, which we earned in some style, ending last season undefeated and with a club record 102 points but August’s results were a bit of a mixed bag.

When we did seem to find our feet and some better consistency after disappointingly dropping out of the Champions League and swapping it for the Europa League, the November bombshell hit and we lost not only manager Steven Gerrard, but a big chunk of his trusted backroom staff to English Premier League side Aston Villa.

It was a big loss for the club as Gerrard had racked up an impressive 125 wins in 193 games since arriving at Ibrox and his decision to return south was more frustrating for fans given the make up of the table and how well placed for additional success we were. Thankfully, as history now shows, the arrival of former Gers midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst was a masterstroke by the board and although the 106 capped Dutch international did not have everything go his way in his maiden season at the club, he still admirably led us to our first European Final in 14 years and notched up some impressive wins against the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade, Braga and RB Leipzig as we made our way to the Europa League showpiece – eventually losing out on silverware by the narrowest of margins in a penalty shoot out against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Given the mid season upheaval in the management of the club, losing out on the Scottish Premiership title by only four points to Celtic was also a good return in reality given the journey the club has been on over the last decade, and Bronckhorst can also now boast our first Scottish Cup win in six years after our 2-0 victory over Heart of Midlothian and for those who like a flutter, there will be eager eyes on the enhanced odds with the bet365 codes available for sports next betting season.

With preparations now underway for the coming 2022/23 campaign, there is every reason for Rangers fans to be optimistic about the future under our flying Dutchman given how close we came to lifting a domestic and European treble, and who knows who close we may have come to a potential quadruple had our new gaffer been in place for longer before we faced off against Hibernian in the Scottish League Cup semi finals.

With plans already afoot for 2022/23, Bronckhorst has already begun shaping his squad for the coming season with stalwart and Northern Ireland international captain Steven Davis being handed a new contract extension, and centre half Connor Goldson has also ended the speculation surrounding his own future at the club by penning a new deal and with the departures of Nigerian defender Leon Balogun and back up goalkeeper Andy Firth, fans can probably expect a few more outs in the coming weeks – as well as a few more arrivals and fresh faces to join Scottish international and former Hearts player John Souttar who has already signed on for the new campaign.

It should be a good year ahead for the club, and van Bronckhorst now has the advantage of having a full pre-season under his belt, and that can only help our chances of additional success in the year ahead.