John Hartson suggests Rangers fans won’t give Van Bronckhorst an easy ride
John Hartson has suggested that Rangers fans shouldn’t give Giovanni van Bronckhorst an easy ride.
The former Celtic hero has said on Go Radio (18 October) that the Dutchman inherited a title-winning team and some of the signings he made are very poor.
The Dutchman took the Gers to the finals of the Europa League last season, and won the Scottish Cup as well. But he came under scrutiny following their 7-1 defeat against Liverpool this month.
“People talk about his recruitment and the player’s he’s brought in, but let’s not forget Giovanni van Bronckhorst was left with a championship winning team. He was left with McGregor, he was left Tavernier, he was left with Kent and was allowed to sign Goldson when his contract was up,” said Hartson on Go Radio Football Show.
“He was left with Ryan Jack, Arfield, an extremely talented group of players and a championship winning team that Steven Gerrard had built and stopped Celtic winning the 10. So you can go through his new signings.
“A couple have done well and he has been unlucky with one or two others, but Rangers fans are probably thinking we are not going to give this guy an absolutely easy ride. He was left with a championship winning team.”
Critical
To be fair, Van Bronckhorst has received strong criticism from the Rangers fans and pundits during his tenure so far.
In fact, after every Champions League defeat, there are suggestions that he should get the sack. This is the same manager who took the club to the final of the Europa League last season, and took the club to the group stages.
It’s really unfortunate that the Bears were pitted in a group of death, where they came up against the likes of Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax – all giants of European football.
Van Bronckhorst should be judged if Rangers fail to mount a serious title challenge. Despite making a stuttering start, they are only behind Celtic by two points.
Having said that, Van Bronckhorst needs to be more selective with his signings. Rangers did well to sell Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey at high prices, but question marks have been raised over their signings.
For instance, Ridvan Yilmaz was brought in for a high transfer fee, but he has hardly played.
Having said that, he should be allowed to build his own team gradually provided he can bring domestic success to the club as well.
In other Rangers news, an official partner of the Gers has called on the board to sack van Bronckhorst and Ross Wilson.