... and with that full and frank interview in the bag, that’s your lot. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
A visibly livid Giovanni van Bronckhorst responds to his first defeat as Rangers boss. “It was very disappointing. If you start an Old Firm game like this ... it seemed like it’s the first Old Firm we played! We knew what we had to do, the ambience, the environment, the pressure. But it seemed like we were not ready for it. If you see the way we gave the goals away ... it was unbelievable. Our Old Firm game started in the second half, when we played really well. But in the first we gave the game away. It wasn’t something I expected. When the whistle blew, we were waiting for the goal to be scored, and that is impossible. We were too naive, we deserved to be down 3-0.”
He’s then asked about his players’ annoyance at the referee’s refusal to stop the game ahead of the first goal when Calvin Bassey was prone in the box. “It’s a decision for the referee. You have to defend the ball. You don’t stop when the ref don’t whistle, so for me that’s something that’s unbelievable to see. We had an honest conversation in the locker room after the game, obviously we were not the way we wanted. We have to stick together and make sure we look forward. We are not the first Rangers team to lose. I lost very big here when I was a player, but we became champion that year. Obviously we want to win this game, but this game does not decide the championship. We still have many games to play and we have to be ready.”
