talkSPORT pundit hammers Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst and tips Celtic thrashing
Simon Jordan has dismissed Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s credentials ahead of the Old Firm derby which he predicts Celtic will win heavily.
The two Glasgow rivals meet for the first time in the new campaign at Parkhead on Saturday (3 September) and the talkSPORT pundit has already handed the win to the hosts while questioning the Gers manager.
Pointing at the heavy defeat in this fixture last season in van Bronckhorst’s first taste of the game as a coach, and the Europa League final defeat on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt, he has thrown up doubts over the Dutchman heading into the headline clash.
Speaking live on talkSPORT on Monday (29 August), via The Scottish Sun he said: “I think Celtic will win the league again this year and I think they will hand Rangers a hiding (on Saturday).
“There were questions about Van Bronckhorst (after the 3-0 in February) and his job wasn’t to get to a European final and lose it, his job was to get there and win it.”
Harsh
It is all very well Jordan picking out arguably the manager’s two worst experiences last season and holding them up to say he isn’t good enough.
He has conveniently glossed over the extra-time victory over Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park, in a competition he went on to win.
And he also neglects to ask the question of where the Hoops were in European competition last season while van Bronckhorst had his side within touching distance of lifting a major trophy – they were of course knocked out of the third-tier Europa Conference League back in February after a comprehensive 5-1 defeat by Bodo/Glimt.
Granted, Ange Postecoglou has got Celtic performing in the Scottish Premiership, both this season and last, while troublesome dropped points put the chase beyond the Bears in an issue that must be addressed.
But van Bronckhorst has steered his team into the Champions League group stage the hard way, and victory at the weekend would even out his record in charge for Old Firm games at two wins, draws and losses each.
The Bhoys are coming off a 9-0 hammering of Dundee United, while the Light Blues knocked off Ross County 4-0, and it will without doubt be an extremely tough game, but there are no grounds to write off the visitors’ chances before a ball has been kicked.
In other Rangers news, contrastingly Chris Sutton found some rare praise for two Ibrox figures, while dishing out some scathing criticism to a third.