James Sands knows the heat is on Rangers after a disastrous Champions League campaign but he is convinced his manager’s experience at the top level as a player will be invaluable in helping them handle it.
Gio van Bronckhorst won Europe’s top tournament with Barcelona and captained Holland in a World Cup final and that’s a pedigree that American midfielder Sands insists has earned the respect of everyone at Ibrox. And although van Bronckhorst is under as much pressure as the playing squad, Sands is convinced he has the experience to guide the club to a better place.
He said: “He is trying to help us focus on this being a learning process. He has been trying to take the emotion out of it a bit and for us to try and use these experiences positively in the league. This is where it helps having a manager who was a player at the top level. He has been through all these things so he can share his experiences. We all look up to him because of the player he was. It is a learning experience for all of us and hopefully we can use it to help us in the league. We still have a chance to win some trophies this season.”
Sands knew it would be a jump from the Europa League to the Champions League in terms of quality - but admits that being handed Napoli, Liverpool and Ajax made it even more difficult than Rangers imagined it would be.
He added: “I think it is a big step up from the Europa League. We did well in that competition last year but it seems we have missed a step and gone straight in with the very best teams in the Champions League. It has been an experience for all of us and we have to learn from it.
“I think it has been a bit of a surprise for everyone. I believe we have three of the best teams in Europe in our group so it was extremely tough. We were a little surprised by the quality, but we got better as the group went on, which is a positive.
“And we learned that playing against the top teams you have to be right on it for 90 minutes. In a lot of the games we have had good spells for 20 minutes or half an hour. But, we have then lost focus and you get punished with two or three goals.
“I think that is probably the biggest takeaway for us from the Champions League.”
Sands is desperate for another crack at the top tier tournament but knows that will mean upping the ante on the domestic front, where Rangers go into Sunday’s clash with St Johnstone four points adrift of Celtic - a gap that will increase to seven if the leaders win their match on Saturday.
“This (the Champions League) is where we want to be and hopefully we can be here next year. We have tried to really separate the two competitions.
“We have been trying to make sure we just focus on them individually. We had a great result against Aberdeen at the weekend and we are not going to let this get us down too much.
“We need to try and make sure we build on the win against Aberdeen. The schedule makes it especially tough but the manager has been great in that regard. He has been big in helping us move on and focus on the league.”
