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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Graeme Young

Jim White urges Rangers dissenters to 'pipe down' as he fears fans are turning on Gio van Bronckhorst

Broadcaster Jim White has pleaded with sceptics among the Rangers support to cut manager Gio van Bronckhorst some slack.

The Ibrox boss is looking for a response after consecutive defeats to Celtic and Braga that has them facing uphill battles in the title race and their Europa League quarter final.

The Dutchman knows results are vital as they trail their greatest rivals by six points in the Premiership with only six games remaining.

And talkSPORT host White has spotted dissenting voices among the Rangers fan base amid a vital run of fixtures - which includes the return with the Portuguese side and a Scottish Cup semi with Celtic.

He said: "Many Rangers fans are not happy that van Bronckhorst is entrusted as the man to take Rangers forward.

"I think there's an element of the Rangers support needs to pipe down.

"I could understand it if it was 3 or 4-0 Braga, but it's not, they can still do them at Ibrox."

But, as often is the case, former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan had a different view and he believes supporters should be allowed some leeway to express their views.

He said: "Yeah, of course they can. But you can't tell football fans how to support their team.

"You can't, on one hand, say that they're the most valuable asset to a football club and during Covid we missed them terribly.

"Then, when they don't agree on something or they give someone some stick, justified or not, that they should pipe down. That's the reality of the territory of football fans."

White responded: "But there's an element of them lately who have had a lot to say. Like, 'we don't need your £4million from that game in Australia against Celtic'.

"And now they're having a blast at van Bronckhorst."

Jordan followed up: "That's up to people who run the football club to decide how they're going to run it.

"If they want to bow down to the tyranny of the minority, that's entirely up to them. If they don't want to be involved in a game in Australia, for a variety of reasons, they it might not be the only factor with fans shouting.

"Yes, I do accept the point that fans were instrumental in this.

"But on one hand we're saying 'fans are instrumental in changing the direction of football, because their views are important. Hang on, that view's not important. Keep that view to yourself'.

"You can't have that argument."

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