Giovanni van Bronckhorst spells out challenge facing Rangers as he urges players to learn from Celtic Park failings

If there has been any sense of Rangers resting on their laurels this season, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has made it clear to his players that the time has come to stop basking in the glow of past glory.

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst interacts with Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou during Wednesday night's Old Firm clash. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

While Wednesday night’s 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park was only the second loss the Scottish champions have suffered in their last 63 Premiership fixtures, it provided them with a startling indicator of just how serious a threat their rejuvenated Old Firm rivals now pose to their title defence.

Van Bronckhorst forced his first team squad to sit through a rerun of their midweek horror show as he seeks a positive reaction against Hearts at Ibrox on Sunday.

“Last season is gone – it’s gone,” he said. “This is the season we want to be champions again and we have to give everything to achieve that. So the challenge is there now to be the champions at the end of the season.

"We had a debrief today. We showed the images, we saw the things we didn’t do right and the mistakes we made. You have to look at the images and be honest and talk to your players and with each other about things we need to improve and that we didn’t do right. It’s from these moments you learn the most.

"It’s obvious I want to see a different team, a different mentality, a different intensity – the things you always have to have when you go into games. It doesn’t matter which game but we have to act differently than we did on Wednesday.

"It’s still a group of players that is together. Yes, we lost a second game in 63 games but they have proved they can bounce back from disappointment. That’s what we have to do on Sunday.”

Van Bronckhorst has also vowed to stick by his footballing principles and 4-3-3 system despite the criticism which has come his way since Wednesday.

"Of course I believe in my way of playing,” he added. “It’s easy to say now that it’s not working – in my first eight games, I didn’t hear that. I believe in the system but we have to keep doing the things we always did. The basic things – track back, mark your man, show aggression.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.