By Zak Williamson
Rangers have sacked manager Giovanni Van Bronckhorst after just over a year in charge of the Ibrox club.
The news will not be a shock to most Rangers fans, after a string of bad results has seen them drop 9 points behind bitter rivals Celtic going into the winter break.
The decision came just under two weeks after Rangers drew 1-1 away to St Mirren, making it their second away game in a row without a win following their 2-1 defeat to St Johnstone the week prior.
Pressure had been mounting on the Dutchman, with calls for his sacking tracking back to Rangers’ humiliating 4-0 defeat in August’s Old Firm Derby.
An official statement from the club read:
‘RANGERS Football Club confirms today it has parted company with manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst. The board would like to put on record sincere thanks to Gio for all his efforts since his appointment as manager.’
Fan reactions to the sacking have been largely supportive, with fan organisation Heart & Hand tweeting:
‘The right decision to sack Gio. Results just weren’t there unfortunately in the league.’
Although the Ibrox side’s league form had undoubtedly faltered, it would not be a stretch to assume that Rangers’ disastrous UEFA Champions League run did not play a part, with Rangers becoming the joint-worst team in the competitions’ history with a -18-goal difference.
Despite such a poor start to the season, there are fans who believe that ‘sacking Gio’ was the wrong move, citing a lack of financial backing from the board as the main reason why results have been so bad.
Rangers have also been marred with injuries throughout the season, with key players such as Conor Goldson, Ianis Hagi and Tom Lawrence not due to return until after the World Cup.
It is hard to imagine that Van Bronckhorst led Rangers to a European final in May, with the club beating giant clubs like Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig on the way.
His Rangers side also won the Scottish Cup for the first time since 2008, delivering their second piece of silverware since returning from the lower leagues.
An argument could be made that given time and proper backing; Van Bronckhorst could have turned things around at Rangers after the successes of last season.
Van Bronckhorst commented on the sacking in an emotional social media post in which he stated:
‘Rangers FC will always be in my heart, and I wish the club all the success for the future. Once a Ranger, always a Ranger.’
Fans of the Ibrox side were given some form of good news, however, with the announcement of former QPR boss Michael Beale as the club’s 18th permanent manager.
Beale was a part of Steven Gerrard’s title-winning squad in the 2020/21 season, which saw Rangers win the league by a 25-point gap and remain unbeaten in the league.
Gers fans will be hoping that Beale is up to the mammoth task of getting their season back on track, however, at this time Rangers’ title hopes look to be dead in the water.