'Give Gio time': Rangers boss gets support with board likely to stand by Van Bronckhorst in short term

Giovanni van Bronckhorst should be given time at Rangers to turn around his fortunes, according to his former Ibrox boss Dick Advocaat.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst's position as Rangers manager is under intense scrutiny.Giovanni van Bronckhorst's position as Rangers manager is under intense scrutiny.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst's position as Rangers manager is under intense scrutiny.

Van Bronckhorst is coming under increasing pressure at Rangers after a 2-1 defeat away at St Johnstone left them seven points behind Celtic in the title race. While it is understood the Rangers board are not at the stage of wielding the axe, results against Hearts on Wednesday and St Mirren on Saturday will need to be positive if the Dutchman is to still be in charge after the World Cup.

Advocaat, who managed Rangers between 1998 and 2001, signed Van Bronckhorst as a player. The 75-year-old, who was last in football with Iraq, wants patience to be afforded to his former charge and says his track record speaks for itself.

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“Everybody needs to give Gio time,” Advocaat said. “He showed what he’s capable of at Feyenoord, he showed that last year with Rangers.

“They sold some good players but there’s no reason to be concerned about that. I know it myself how it works at a club like Rangers. It’s not just Gio finding that out. I had it, Walter Smith had it, Alex McLeish had it. If you’re not No.1 you have problems.But give him the time. He’s a very young, very good coach. He’s shown how good he was at Feyenoord so don’t worry that one part of the season is not going so well.”

Advocaat continued in an interview with the Daily Record: “There’s still so many games to come. Last year he did an unbelievable job taking the team to the Europa League Final. He’s brought a lot of money into the club too by reaching Seville, by selling the players like [Calvin] Bassey and [Joe] Aribo, by getting the team to the Champions League.

“He’s had a lot of injuries and he just needs the time to get to the World Cup. Then maybe he can rebuild things with the players coming back into the squad. Only at that point can you judge. Now is not the time. Gio is no quitter. And besides there is no reason to do that. He just needs time.”