The post-match press conference of Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst following the defeat to Celtic was as predictable as it was “disappointing”.
This is a phrase that the Rangers support have gotten used to under the squad’s guidance of the legendary former Dutch international but it’s one that’s beginning to grate.
Winning only 50% of the club’s Scottish Premiership games since restarting in January, the lacklustre performances under Gio pre-Christmas have finally began to catch up.
There’s now been a devastating 12 point swing in the title race and the 2-1 defeat to Celtic at Ibrox saw Rangers toil in an uninventive, uninspiring and insipid display that has fans fuming.
The squad do – in all honesty – bear the brunt of the criticism with this team lacking the bite and balls to do what we need them to on Scottish soil.
They’ll never be forgotten for winning 55 but the jig is up for many who now face a payday but professional mediocrity south of the border. Rangers, it appears, is just not for them.
Attention will turn to who manages the rebuild at Ibrox and whilst many argue van Bronckhorst hasn’t been given the chance to build his own squad, his credentials as a manager are undoubtedly under scrutiny.
Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst under pressure to deliver
In Europe, smart tactical flexibility has worked wonders but on domestic soil, much like this team, there remains doubts about van Bronckhorst’s bite.
The fans really do deserve better than pacifying sound bites and reiterations of disappointment and this is somewhere that Giovanni van Bronckhorst is repeatedly coming up short.
Stop patronising us – it’s not good enough and so far he’s proving incapable of resolving the issues domestically. It ultimately rests on him.
A manager’s job is to manage – to successfully utilise the resources on hand to maximise the potential – and so far the notion that flinging money in GVB’s direction is a risky one to many.
Change is coming this summer, and if the next few weeks collapse before our very eyes with van Bronckhorst’s Rangers capitulating in the process, then that might involve the backroom team too.
Rangers can’t afford to fling millions into a rebuild for it to backfire, and the jury is out on whether Giovanni van Bronckhorst is the man to manage it.
It’s a long way back when you lose the Rangers support and van Bronckhorst must give us more and respect the fact that some have already began to jump ship.
Questions are also being asked of another influential Rangers figure after he appeared to bottle it against the Parkhead club.
