Kris Boyd insists it’s too early to predict if the axe will fall on Giovanni van Bronckhorst as he offered a reminder that Celtic were out of Europe before Rangers despite the Ibrox club earning the unwanted tag of being the worst team in Champions League group stage history.
The former Rangers striker admitted Van Bronckhorst now faces a crucial time in his Light Blues managerial tenure as he approaches his first anniversary as boss with three games before the Scottish Premiership shutdown due to the World Cup.
Van Bronckhorst has been feeling the heat mainly due to a woeful return to European football’s top table which saw them finish without a single point from games against Napoli, Liverpool and Ajax. Rivals Celtic, meanwhile, received plenty of praise for their approach despite failing to record a victory and picked up two points from draws with Shakhtar Donetsk. However, Rangers still had a chance of dropping into the Europa League going into the final matchday - albeit it would have taken the unlikely scoreline of a 5-0 win over Ajax at home - while the Hoops were eliminated on the penultimate matchday.
And, speaking to Online Betting Guide OLBG, Boyd said: “A lot of people forget that, despite it being a bad European campaign for Rangers, Celtic were out of the competition before them. But Rangers will be absolutely delighted that the Champions League campaign is over. It's produced a lot of negativity and the players have had a dent to their confidence because that's what happens when you lose games heavily.”
Boyd, though, conceded that games against St Johnstone in Perth on Sunday, a home game against Hearts on Wednesday and trip to St Mirren are huge for his old club. He said: “It's imperative that Rangers get nine points from the next three games and then once everyone is back in December is when we'll see the real pressure.
“The disappointing thing for Rangers will be that the European campaign, albeit the Europa League, carried so much positivity to the football club but it's been the opposite this year. They had all the plaudits last year and so now they have to deal with people being critical this year - that's part and parcel of being at a big football club if things don't go right.
“Rangers have obviously endured a lot of heavy defeats in the Champions League and also that heavy defeat at Celtic Park a few months ago. There will always be negativity when you lose a game of football to Celtic. When you look at Rangers domestically, yes they're four points behind Celtic and it was a disappointing result against Livingston, but Rangers have always been able to bounce back from the disappointment of Europe, they've still found a way to win games of football but there's no doubt that performances are going to have to improve if Rangers are going to mount a title challenge.
“If you're in charge of a big football club then you're always going to be under pressure to get results and there's no hiding place from the fact that the performances haven't been up to the standard that fans expect - that's where the frustration is coming from.
“The next phase of Giovanni van Bronckhorst's Rangers career is crucial because there are no distractions now in terms of Europe. Domestic results are all that matter so Rangers are going to have to start winning games of football and playing in a manner that the fans are happy with.
“It's a difficult situation to pinpoint right now because it's a strange season anyway with the World Cup coming up but I don't think we can sit here in November and say that four or five months down the line Gio may lose his job because as it stands, Rangers are still in the hunt for the league title, they're in the semi-final of the league cup and the Scottish Cup hasn't even started yet.
“There's no doubt that every result Rangers have picked up, bar the recent win against Aberdeen, has been a grind to get the three points but they've managed to do it. You have to give credit for finding a way to win games of football as well. Rangers are lacking that creativity and the level of goalscoring but when you look at Rangers' attacking players there are probably a good few that will put their hands up and say that they can do a lot better and if they can find that going forward then things should be ok.”
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