Giovanni van Bronckhorst seemed to hand in ‘Resignation Letter’ at Rangers with decision – Keith Jackson
Rangers may have been victorious at home to Hearts on Wednesday (9 November) but they still haven’t emerged from the game with much credit.
Malik Tillman bagged the only goal as Giovanni van Bronckhorst opted to make just one change to the side that was beaten by St Johnstone with Fashion Sakala out injured and replaced by Rabbi Matondo.
Keith Jackson described the Welsh international, who missed out on their World Cup squad, as a downgrade on Sakala as he claimed the boss was signing his own resignation letter with his selection.
“This felt like a whole new level of jeopardy as Hearts motored across the M8, fuelled by their momentum,” Jackson said in his Daily Record column.
“So the Dutchman sifted through what few fit options he had left and, for reasons only known to himself, chose to make just one change to the line-up which lost in Perth at the weekend.
“In came Rabbi Matondo for the injured Fashion Sakala which seemed like much of a muchness if not a downgrade. James Sands and Tillman kept their places in midfield while Steve Davis and Scott Arfield remained on the bench.
“Given what was at stake, van Bronckhorst’s selection felt more like a resignation letter. And, no, not for the first time.”
Who else?
Jackson can make these claims all he wants but there was not much choice for van Bronckhorst with Sakala injured and Matondo the next best option.
Tom Lawrence has been out for a while to reduce the players who can play there further and Scott Wright has hardly lit Ibrox up during his time at the club.
Rangers can’t magically build the perfect winger to put straight into the side or necessarily buy one as good as Ryan Kent on the other side.
Matondo didn’t have his best game in a Light Blues’ shirt against the Jam Tarts but he has shown glimpses of what he can do at times already and now it is just a case of putting it all together.
The most important thing was that they were able to pick up all three points while playing very far from their best against one of the Premiership’s most competitive non-Old Firm sides.
In other Rangers news, the club have had to pay a significant sum of money to this business tycoon to settle a legal dispute between the two parties.