Make no mistake, Rangers last three results have not been good enough. We knew it was a difficult run of games, even without the trip to Pittodrie but, 11 goals against and zero for does not make for pretty reading.
The Champions League was always going to be an uphill battle but the nature of the Ajax defeat after a pathetic display at Parkhead saw early calls for Giovanni van Bronckhorst to go by some in the support.
The bigger picture is that the 3-0 defeat against Napoli will be thrown in with the previous two games, however, anyone who watched the game will know that the players looked to fully support the manager given the level of effort, commitment and desire on display.
This hasn’t stopped Football Insider from claiming that Gio’s coat is on a wobbly peg though and that only an upturn in results will stop his future from being discussed:
“Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst is under growing threat of the sack, Football Insider understands.
“The Dutchman, 47, has overseen a dismal start to the new campaign that continued with Wednesday night’s 3-0 Champions League defeat to Napoli at Ibrox.
“It is believed Van Bronckhorst’s position will be discussed by the board, and he could be dismissed within just weeks, if there is not a significant turnaround in performances and results.
“In turn, the Dutchman is believed to have told friends he is wary of being sacked following the Glasgow derby humiliation.”
Any Rangers manager that continues to lose games will be under pressure and the manager’s short-term goal will be to get to the international break and then the World Cup either no further behind or closer to Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership, any positive results in the Champions League will be a bonus but, on the Napoli display, there is no reason why we can’t get something from the remaining two home fixtures.
Giovanni was under pressure this season from the moment Celtic won the league last year and with them winning every game domestically, it has only heightened the need for us to keep winning, do our job, and hope that they have a dip in form. It will happen at some point but if we are too far behind to capitalise, then Gio would have few complaints if he were to receive his marching orders.
We will not have any kind of European run this season so Gio needs to put out a side that wins in Scotland home and away , if not he should be gone .Not just him but Ross Wilson also who not only picked Gio for the job but has also overseen the purchase of so many players who have not been good enough for Rangers. Interesting that only TWO players brought in by Wilson played in Wednesday nights team and of those two James Sands struggled badly. If this guy is making the decisions then he needs to be gone .