Rıdvan Yılmaz has offered his first insight into ex-manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s ultimately-doomed regime, by condemning the former manager as a ‘friend’ while praising Michael Beale as a ‘serious coach’.

The Turkish star was simply not favoured by GVB, and the more negative comments that come out from players about Gio’s reign, the more we’re saddened by how sour it went after Sevilla.

Ibrox Noise regulars know we were massive fans of Gio, his being one of us and a winner of a manager from his time with Feijenoord (history buffs will understand that one).

But one swift kick of Aaron Ramsey’s boot was the difference between Gio being lauded as a club legend and having a statue made, and how it actually turned out.

And Yılmaz’ comments seem to sum up, sadly, how it derailed for Gio.

In paraphrase, the Turk, who was isolated by Van Bronckhorst from the start, suggests that his former manager struggled to actually manage, and ended up just being the players’ mate, rather than having the will and seriousness to do his job properly by the end.

Love or hate Michael Beale, he’s at Rangers to do a job, and the Turk is one of those starting to see the benefits of that.

Indeed, being condemned as the players’ friend and not their coach is a damning indictment of how sour Gio’s regime ended up, where there was no man-management, no discipline, no tactics, and a sudden crumpling of everything that had been great pre-Sevilla.

Gio’s exit had become inevitable and the former Besiktas star’s comments kind of hint at a major reason at what went so wrong for the ex-Ibrox playing legend.

We still wish Gio the best and hope he lands on his feet soon, but that swing of Ramsey’s boot changed everything.

It even changed Gio as a manager. Sad really.