Pundit Barry Ferguson has claimed that Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst should keep his job at Ibrox even if they lose in the Scottish Cup semi-final.
Rangers narrowly lost 2-1 on Sunday at Ibrox in the Old Firm derby, which meant that the gap at the top of the table was extended to six points. And with just six games to go, it is hard to see the Gers making up the ground before the end of the season.
Van Bronckhorst was introduced at Rangers after Steven Gerrard parted ways with the club to take the managerial role at Aston Villa.
Although it looks likely that Rangers will not win the league this season, whilst talking to Go Radio, Ferguson highlighted that Van Bronckhorst should remain the manager ahead of next season.
Asked whether defeat to Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-finals in a fortnight’s time, he said: “I cannot see that, no way. I think the summer’s massive for Gio – speaking to him last week, he realises that as well. There’s some players who he wants to extend contracts, and obviously, he has identified players that can make Rangers stronger and better, so there’s no doubt in my mind Gio will be the manager at the start of next season.”
TIF Thoughts on Barry Ferguson’s comments…
Steven Gerrard won the SPFL title last campaign with Rangers, which stopped Celtic from winning a 10th league title in a row. So it would have been hard for any manager to come in and follow up the impressive job that the former Liverpool captain did during his time as Rangers boss.
Van Bronckhorst has only had one transfer window to build a squad and that was in January, so it is perhaps unfair to judge him after he has not had the time to get players he wants through the door that may suit the style of play he wants to implement.