Handling of Alex Lowry sums up Giovanni van Bronckhorst time at Rangers, he has to go
Alex Lowry is finally fit again and available to play for Rangers, and yet he won’t be part of the match day squad for the clash with Hearts on Wednesday (9 November).
The Gers fell to seven points behind Celtic at the top of the SPFL table when they were beaten 2-1 by St Johnstone on Sunday afternoon (6 November), with the pressure on Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s job growing to an all-time high.
The Dutch coach has survived the chop for now, taking media duties ahead of the next game in the league, but he shared another decision that stunned many fans during his press conference.
Asked by The Athletic journalist Jordan Campbell about midfielder Lowry’s availability, Van Bronckhorst was quick to shut down his involvement in the first-team for the coming two fixtures admitting that he is fit but just isn’t being selected right now.
“I can only pick 20, it’s very simple,” Van Bronckhorst said of his decision.
“It’s a long time ago last season. He’s been out for how many months, so for me it’s about seeing the players I have and the players I need.
“Every player who is in the 20 man squad deserves to be in that squad.”
As great as that sentiment is, it’s just not true right now. This group of players are not performing, and if the manager isn’t looking to make changes and freshen things up to change the results he’s getting then he needs to go now.
Lowry made a great impact on the first-team last season but this season he has been hampered by injury problems, including being on the end of an “assault” on the pitch in a reserve game that saw him miss six weeks of action.
With so many midfield issues at the club right now and a problem with creativity in the final third, Lowry would seem like a natural solution to a lot of the issues right now, not least getting the fans back on side with a big decision.
But Van Bronckhorst has no care in the world for change, and will be stubborn until his end at Rangers. It’s inevitable he will fall on his sword at some point in the near future, so why wait?
Leaving him to take charge of the next two games before the World Cup break when it’s clear the fans are done with him and the players aren’t all in anymore is just begging to drop more points.
His handling of a top young talent like Lowry sums up his time at the club. Brilliant last season in bursts, but pretty useless this year and damaging to the future of the club.
It’s time to go for Van Bronckhorst, and hopefully whoever the new man is makes use of the brilliant talent that Lowry is.
In other Rangers news, Ross Wilson set to oversee double-blunder amid behind the scenes chaos according to Keith Jackson