When Giovanni van Bronckhorst joined Rangers, he was inheriting Steven Gerrard’s mess. Dumped out of Europe by Malmo, Rangers were running on empty.
The summer work had been bad, few signings came in and against all odds, the manager turned it around totally and went on a big winning run.
He came unstuck against Celtic though, but did win a cup. The results started to flounder though as fans demanded this group of players be overhauled.
That summer the club spent £20M but despite that, the work wasn’t great and Gio’s hands were tied in the Champions League. Add to that injuries and the board not properly backing him and it floundered and he was fired soon after.
When Michael Beale joined Rangers, he was inheriting Giovanni and Gerrard’s mess. Dumped out of Europe under GVB, Beale focused on the league and went on a massive winning run.
He came unstuck against Celtic though, and the results started to flounder as fans demanded this group of players be overhauled.
That summer the club spent £20M but despite that, the work wasn’t great and Beale’s squad was an incoherent mess. He came completely unstuck with bad domestic results and was fired soon after.
When Philippe Clement joined Rangers, he was inheriting Gerrard, Gio, and Beale’s mess. He turned it around and went on a big run, coming unstuck first against Aberdeen, then certainly against Celtic. Add to that injuries, and bad signings in the winter transfer window (aside Cortes), and the results started floundering.
He came unstuck twice against Celtic, and the results started to flounder as fans demanded this group of players be overhauled.
Noticing a pattern here?
It’s the same exact cycle that began with the end of Steven Gerrard’s Rangers – and this is the third manager in a row to go through almost the same pattern.
The prophet comes in, turns it all around, crumples v Celtic, then the result go to pot.
Fans are backing Clement, just as they always back the manager. Rangers managers always get backed, until they no longer do.
So what’s the common denominator?
Players? Not so sure. Only Tav and Goldson exist of the Gerrard era in terms of regulars under Clement. They are nowhere near good enough, that is clear, but we’re not sure we can pin 6 years of failure on two men.
For whatever reason, Rangers keep signing (and playing) substandard players, and the manager is ultimately to blame for that.
Clement ‘signed’ Silva, Cortes and Dio. Anyone really claiming those were three great signings? But like Gio, he didn’t bring them in, he just took the players he was given.
This is also what happened with Gio, and only a few of them were actually good enough.
Beale, it turns out, didn’t do as horribly in the market as feared.
So what IS the source of this repeating cycle of failure?
It’s literally the same thing season after season.
And we’re damned if we know the answer.