Barry Ferguson lauds Giovanni van Bronckhorst for Alfredo Morelos substitution
Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst deserves credit for learning from his mistakes and making a key change to beat Aberdeen, says Barry Ferguson.
The Dutchman withdrew Alfredo Morelos for goalscorer Kemar Roofe in the tight 1-0 victory at Ibrox at the weekend, after making a single substitution across the two previous league matches combined.
The manager has faced criticism for the use of his squad, but he made the crucial change to secure three points against the Dons, and the former Gers captain has praised him for changing.
Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show, via Football Scotland, Ferguson said: “The manager’s got to take credit, you’ve got to give Gio credit.
“You had a lot of people saying on Thursday and Friday: ‘Why did you not make substitutions?’.
“That was proven right against St Johnstone and, against Aberdeen, going into the last 10 minutes he’s decided to bring his top man, for me, Alfredo Morelos off.
“Credit to the manager and the players because the fans were getting a bit agitated in the stadium.
“When it was getting towards the last 15-20 minutes, I was thinking to myself: ‘This could be a horrendous two points to drop’.
“But fair play to the manager, he’s went and took off his talisman and a lot of people weren’t happy about it.
“But Gio’s got his own mind, decided to go and make that change and it made the difference in Rangers getting three points.”
Crucial
The former Feyenoord manager’s unwillingness to deviate from his trusted starters has proven an issue over recent weeks.
A lack of rotation despite midweek exertions, and a quickness to revert back to his preferred players, has contributed to a sluggish looking side.
The run that saw comfortable wins over Hearts and Hibs, then the dispatch of Borussia Dortmund in Europe seems a long way away.
The domestic form has been concerning, perhaps contributed to by the Europa League ties, and scrappy 1-0 wins are the best Gers can come up with at the moment.
Whether the squad players are not good enough or the manager has a blind spot when it comes to them is still not clear.
Even the other substitutions he made in the game were far more predictable, withdrawing his usual first targets Fashion Sakala and Borna Barisic, then swapping in recent favourite John Lundstram.
But credit where it is due, the decision to remove star man Morelos was a surprise, and it paid off with the late winner.
Perhaps this will remind van Bronckhorst there are others who have something to offer, although his lack of trust in Sakala despite his goals suggests it is not automatic.
In other Rangers news, a Red Star staff member has accused the Light Blues of being “arrogant” after their Dortmund win.