Rewind only a few weeks ago and it felt like Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s head was on the Rangers chopping block.
After being defeated 2-1 by a lacklustre Celtic at Ibrox and all but surrendering the Scottish Premiership, the Dutchman, along with several players, was in the Rangers crosshairs.
The club’s 12 point league swing is unforgivable in many ways and ahead of the summer there’s expected to be big changes at a team who have struggled to go the distance in Scotland.
But over the last few matches Rangers manager Gio has proven that if anyone is to leave Ibrox in the coming months, that it shouldn’t be him.
Moreover, these last four matches have proven that if anyone is to head up a summer rebuild it’s the man currently in the Rangers dugout.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst tactical tweaks a Rangers gamechanger
Against Braga Rangers were emphatic, energetic and well deserving of their progress. Against Celtic, the team put in a monumental performance to grab a long-awaited Scottish Cup Final chance.
Especially against Celtic, van Bronckhorst had learned from the mistakes of Ibrox and tweaked his set-up and approach to nullify the Parkhead side.
Calvin Bassey hounded Tom Rogic out the game and Celtic were shellshocked by the Ibrox side’s energy. The team deserve huge kudos but so does Giovanni van Bronckhorst for the tactical tweaks.
Against Motherwell, once against the players dug deep as fringe stars stood up and the Gers won 3-1 despite playing the majority of the game with 10 men.
Then against RB Leipzig, with the team depleted and five first team players (including the first choice strikers) out of action, we seen this van Bronckhorst side at its most pragmatic.
Rangers went 5-3-2 and hoped to spring something on the break against one of European football’s fastest emerging elite sides.
In the end, the club’s resolve was broken by a wonder strike in dubious circumstances and that 1-0 deficit could prove a very thin one at Ibrox.
Next up is Parkhead in the Scottish Premiership – a final chance to keep our faint title hopes alive – before the return against RB Leipzig.
No matter what happens over the course of the next six or so days, the last three weeks have proven that Giovanni van Bronckhorst has something about him and deserves the backing to lead Rangers going forward.
