Saikat Mandal

Tue 25 October 2022 15:10, UK Updated Tue 25 October 2022 15:39, UK

Brian Laudrup has suggested that Rangers have been “miserable” in recent months, and Giovanni van Bronckhorst may struggle to keep his job.

The former Ibrox hero wrote for the Daily Express (via The Daily Record) that in an ideal world, the Gers board would have given him more time, but the scenario at the Glasgow club is different.

The situation has become dire after Rangers managed a 1-1 draw against Livingston and the Dutchman urgently needs to ease the pressure.

“You look at some of the players and it’s as if they are not in love with football right now. It’s pretty miserable. Back in the spring, I said that van Bronckhorst should be given the summer transfer window and this season to prove himself on his own terms,” wrote Laudrup for the Scottish Daily Express (via Daily Record).

“But I’m not naive about how football works. Nor is van Bronckhorst. If you get booed game after game, if people don’t see any signs of improvement, then of course fingers get pointed at the manager and a demand for change begins to grow.

“Directors at any club will feel it. They know that if fans turn against the team and the manager then, at some point, they have to react.

“And they have to react before it’s too late to turn a season around. Van Bronckhorst will be aware, just like everyone, that the easiest option for change will always be to get rid of the management team.

“In an ideal world, he would be given time. I still hope that’s how things can pan out because it’s terrible we’re having to talk this way after a European final and Scottish Cup success in May.

“At Rangers, though, it’s always about the here and now. And Ibrox feels like a very different place from the heady optimism of the countdown to Seville.

“A week ago, I said it was about this squad limping to the World Cup break with the best results possible, taking a breather, getting players back and going again. But the situation has since intensified because of Saturday’s bleak 1-1 draw against Livingston.”

Spot on

Laudrup is absolutely spot on here. The optimism that was there last season after the club reached the finals of the Europa League has completely gone.

It feels like the team needs a reset. The results are not improving, and the confidence will be further shattered if the Gers suffer another heavy defeat in Naples.

The Champions League defeats can’t be an excuse though, for why the Bears are struggling in the league as well.

There is hardly anything to feel optimistic about at the moment. The overall performance level has gone down. They are boring and predictable.

This is pathetic to watch at the moment, and Van Bronckhorst can’t hide from it. It feels like he can’t inspire the team to play an attractive brand of football again. 

There is lethargy among the players, and in almost every game, individual errors are letting the team down. James Tavernier, who is usually very influential, has been below par this season. 

If this trend continues, the Dutchman will struggle to keep his job.

In other Rangers news, John Hartson has lashed out amid a “Shocking” recent controversy involving the Daily Record & Craig Moore.