Giovanni van Bronckhorst has defended his style as he claimed Rangers suffered in the Celtic storm before “taking over” the match.
The Ibrox manager has warned his troops that last season’s title success is past history.
And, as Van Bronckhorst prepares to launch Aaron Ramsey and Alfredo Morelos into the squad for Sunday's clash against Hearts, the Dutchman is demanding they react fiercely to their Old Firm humbling, reports The Daily Record.
The Rangers boss was hit by stinging criticism from fans and ex-pros in the wake of the Parkhead mauling with his tactics, game-management and the desire of his team questioned.
But Van Bronckhorst insists Rangers “took over” after 25 minutes at Parkhead and replied: “Of course I believe in my way of playing.
“In the first eight games, I didn’t hear about that. It’s very easy to say it now.
“I know when results aren’t there, everyone has questions about your way of playing.
“Inside, outside, last season, champions or not, it comes with the results you are getting.
“I believe in the system, but we need to make sure we keep doing the things we always did. Those are the basic things.
“We had a really bad start. We weren’t ready for the game.
“I’m sure if we have those things back, or do much better than we did the last couple of games, we will be fine.
“We knew Celtic were going to push hard for the early goal. The first 20-25 minutes, there was a storm. Then we took over.
“It’s for us now to bounce back and make sure on Sunday we have that same determination we had a couple of months ago.
“Last season is gone. This is the season we want to be champions again at the end of the season and we have to give everything to achieve that.
“So the challenge is there now. It’s one point difference. There are 42 points to be won, so the challenge is on. That’s all I can say.”
Rangers have shipped seven points out of the 12 since the mid-season break and were 3-0 down at half-time when dismantled by Celtic.
But Van Bronckhorst has claimed his team took charge at Parkhead after an initial flurry as he said: “You always take the last game you played into account.
“But it’s obvious I want to see a different team, a different mentality, a different intensity. We have to act differently.
“I didn’t change any tactics at half-time. I just changed personnel and we had a whole different attitude in the second half.
“It’s the way you behave on the pitch, the way you communicate with your team-mates. Those things are much more important.
“Of course. We had a debrief on Friday. We saw the things we didn’t do right and the mistakes we made.
“You have to be honest and talk to your players and with each other. It’s from these moments you learn the most, but you have to learn from it.
“It’s still a group that is together. The results aren’t there.
“Yes we lost a second game in 60 games and they have proved they can bounce back. That’s what we have to do on Sunday.”
Van Bronckhorst has Morelos back from international duty to face Hearts, while Ramsey is building his fitness towards an outing.
The boss also has Leon Balogun and Ryan Jack in contention for starts after sub outings against Celtic.
He said: “Alfredo came back late on Thursday night. He had three flights, but he trained as normal on Friday.
“Aaron had a session on Friday that also went really good. We have to assess him, but he looks good as well, so we can add more players.
“Leon is one of them. He showed on Wednesday how valuable he can be in the squad. Same for Ryan Jack.”
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