What now for Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Rangers?

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What now for Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Rangers?
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 03: Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Manager of Rangers reacts during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Rangers FC at Celtic Park Stadium on September 03, 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Is Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s time at Ibrox coming to an end prematurely?

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There is absolutely no question his statement last night was a huge middle finger up to the board, themselves no strangers to being incompetent, and there’s a feeling the Dutchman is now a dead man walking.

Gio literally attacked the board for a lack of backing, in his usual cryptic way, then attacked his squad for not being good enough.

It was exactly the same as what led to the end of Gerrard, Parker and Tuchel.

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How would we feel if Gio’s tenure at Ibrox came to an abrupt end?

We really, really like the man, but cannot help feeling he’s up against a board with too much self-interest.

That he got £15M to spend this summer isn’t bad, and indeed was the most since Walter’s days in one summer, but there’s a massive feeling that the additions have been a complete waste of money aside Colak. Lawrence was a free, and Tillman a loan.

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We have trusted Gio a tonne, but our concerns emerged when he inexplicably chose Jon McLaughlin to be our new number one. It made completely no sense whatsoever (except to most of the fans, funnily enough), that a reasonable deputy goalie would now be good enough long term for Rangers in the Champions League.

The Connor Goldson shambles too has been a major cloud over this club – his refusal to sign a new deal for the best part of two years until the last second when he realised no one of any value was coming in for him. He remains untouchable and his performances ghastly.

But Gio?

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We feel like he has less control over things than he wants, and some of the board’s conduct (the cinch embarrassment remains absolutely ridiculous) hasn’t exactly courted his favour.

The guy got us to the UEL final – one of the biggest achievements in the club’s history, but we tripped up when it truly, truly mattered.

The guy then got us into the UCL in another massive achievement but to wave the white flag after the first match is genuinely eye opening.

And those two humiliations at Parkhead and now the one in Holland are massive blots on his Rangers and managerial copybook.

GVB remains a manager who is learning how to be one – he is, after all, still only young.

He’s talented.

But his time at Rangers is threatening to sour shockingly quickly if it hasn’t already, and we honestly can’t quite see how he remains manager now.

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7 COMMENTS

  1. He needs to make some kind of counter response to his comments publicly and to his players privately to move on from this. Then if he cares has to hope the board give him time to sort out the tactical mess he has gotten us in from almost the same XI that played in Seville.

    If he is to remain then he has to show some ruthlessness with his team selections and stop making duds like Goldson, McLaughlin, Kent, Kamara, Tavernier basically untouchable. I’d have much more respect after a defeat by a team willing to go out and fight for the jersey and the result.

    We have highly respected youth coaches so maybe it’s time to have faith in the young players they are coaching. The days of Davis, McGregor, Arfield and Jack need to be wound down.

    The problem for Gio is that this current squad won’t keep us at the races until we split for Quatar 22 and the following window. We need to lower our expectations in Europe though. We punched well above our weight in the Europa last season so can’t be expected to do much in the CL as much as we want to dream about it.

    I’ll be surprised if we get 4 points from the group stages and equally unsurprised if we get zero but it’s very different me saying that compared to our manager.

    If he doesn’t believe in his players then he has to go or be told to go. It is possibly even out of his hands already but Pittodrie is a crucial point in his career if he is still at the helm by then.

    • Well No. Rangers sold their best two players for cash. Bassey and the Aribo.

      These are business decisions. There was no Choice here.

      Qualifying for the CL has more cash coming in. The problem in Scotland is the way Scotland has treated Rangers and now Rangers have to recover , in time we will.

  2. £15 million went a longer way when Sir Walter was there. I think they struggled signing anyone, the wage budget contraints surely must be a factor. We’re just a small fish in a big pond & we shop around in the bottom of the market trying desperately to unearth a gem. I believe this is why Celtic shop in different markets. We have a talented squad of youngsters that aren’t far behind the quality of the first team, perhaps its time to selectively bring them in. They’d bite Gios hand off for a call up and that desire to play and more importantly win can be harnessed.

    • £15m wasn’t great but it was enough to make a difference. Gio has wasted £12m on Yilmaz, Davies and Matondo. All 3 players signed late in the transfer window and you have to ask why they were still available if they were any good. For the same money we could’ve bought 2 quality players like Veerman and Olson who are returning great numbers for their new clubs. When we first brought Gio in I’m sure most Rangers fans thought his knowledge and contacts of Dutch football would see him unearth a few gems. But he brought nothing.

  3. Gio’s main job on the pitch has to be to shore up the defence.
    McGregor and Davies in, McLaughin and Goldson dropped.
    Maybe go 3 at the back for the foreseeable future, which in turn would allow us 2 up front in a 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-2.

  4. Absolutely nonsense to talk of GVB’s departure we lost to 2 great teams yes Celtic are a great team same goes for Ajax.
    Gio will get Rangers to the top and make no mistake the Chairman Douglas Park has blue blood flowing through his veins I know him.remember remember Alex Ferguson’s early days at Man U let Gio get on with the job and for the press just keep taking the happy tablets.

    Ian Doyle

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