Van Bronckhorst slams Rangers players for ‘naive’ defeat at Celtic Park
Giovanni van Bronckhorst has slammed his Rangers players after their 3-0 defeat away to Celtic last night (February 2).
The Gers have dropped down to second place in the league with Celtic gaining a one-point advantage in the title race following last night’s victory.
Van Bronckhorst slammed his players for being ‘naive’ with the game being all but wrapped up at half time.
“Very disappointing,” he said as per Daily Mail. “If you start an Old Firm game like this … it seemed like it was the first Old Firm we played.
“You know what it will bring, the Old Firm, what you have to do, the environment we go in, the ambience, the pressure we get, everything.
“It seemed like we weren’t ready for it. You see the way we gave the goals away. It is a [lack of sharpness] I cannot say otherwise.
“Not going with your man … not being ready for the battles. I think it was unbelievable the first half that I saw. Our Old Firm game started in the second half. We were much better, much more aggressive and we played well but the first half we gave the game away.’
“When the whistle blew, I think we were just waiting for the goal to be scored. For me that is impossible. We were too naive and deserved to be down 3-0 the way we played.”
season defining?
Rangers’ performance was exactly the same as their fans in Celtic Park last night, non-existent.
From the first minute it looked as if the Bears couldn’t deal with the electric atmosphere in the ground and the magnitude of the game with senior players such as James Tavernier making stupid mistakes.
Last night was a game with huge stakes, potentially season defining, and Rangers bottled it in all honesty.
The last few weeks have displayed warning signs with the Gers dropping silly points but the defeat at Celtic Park is a real worry in terms of the title race.
The Hoops now sit one point above van Bronckhorst’s side and benefit from the momentum being on their side with Rangers needing to address some of their issues in order to get back to winning ways.
There will be a chance for redemption when the two sides meet again at Ibrox in April and the Bears must do their best to remember every gruelling detail of this defeat so it doesn’t happen to them again.
In other Bears news, Giovanni van Bronckhorst warns Rangers of ‘quality’ Old Firm opponent.