Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been SACKED by Rangers.
The Light Blues have brought the Dutchman's time at Ibrox to an end after a poor run of performances and results. The final nail in the coffin was the draw with St Mirren in Paisley that left them trailing Celtic and Ange Postecoglou by nine points in the race for the Premiership title this season.
Just six months ago Rangers reached the Europa League Final and claimed some huge scalps along the way before the heartbreaking loss in Seville, while they also lifted the Scottish Cup with a Hampden success under Van Bronckhorst. They then navigated two rounds of qualifying to reach the Champions League group stages - including a stunning win in PSV's own backyard.
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However, the return to Europe's top table proved to be a disaster with six defeats from six in a section with Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax ended with Rangers exiting the competition with the unwanted tag as the the 'worst ever' team following just two goals and 22 against leaving them with a -20 goal difference.
Results and performances domestically haven't been of a high standard of late with a narrow ViaPlay Cup win over Dundee in the quarter-final stage. Dropped home points against Livingston before defeat in St Johnstone are also part of that recent run with the shared points with the Buddies the latest poor return for the Ibrox men.
Rangers have been hit with a number of injuries - especially in the defensive ranks - but some of the summer signings have also failed to hit the ground running with everything now coming to a head as Van Bronckhorst officially leaves his role just over one year after taking on the top job.
The search for the next manager of Rangers is officially underway.
A club statement read:"Rangers Football Club confirms today it has parted company with manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst. The board would like to put on record sincere thanks to Gio for all his efforts since his appointment as manager.
"Arriving at the club just over a year ago, Gio led the club to a fifth European final and won the Scottish Cup last May. He also led the team to the club’s first Champions League qualification in 12 years.
"Unfortunately, results and performances over recent months haven’t met expectations and the decision was made today by the board to terminate the contract of the manager.
"The search for the new manager is now underway.
Chairman, Douglas Park, commented: “I want to thank Gio for the hard work he has put in over the last 12 months and, especially, the achievements of taking the club to the Europa League final and winning the Scottish Cup last season.
“Unfortunately, recent results have not met neither our nor Gio’s expectations, and we have taken this difficult decision today. Everyone at Rangers wishes Gio every success in the future.”
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