Rangers have confirmed they have sacked Giovanni van Bronckhorst just a week after his first anniversary as Ibrox boss with chairman Douglas Park admitting "results have not met neither our nor Gio’s expectations".
Record Sport revealed earlier today the club was about to announce his sacking – and now they have. Rangers released a statement that confirmed the decision, with the Light Blues trailing Celtic by nine points in the Scottish Premiership title race, leaving them looking for their 18th permanent manager.
The 47-year-old Dutchman looked set to remain in charge at least until domestic action resumed on December 15 after the break for the 2022 Qatar World Cup but the Light Blues hierarchy have decided to take action. Van Bronckhorst succeeded Steven Gerrard following his departure for Aston Villa midway through last season and took charge of 65 matches.
Van Bronckhorst surrendered a four-point lead during his spell at the helm as Celtic won the league title but he did lead Rangers to the Europa League Final, which they lost on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville, and won the Scottish Cup after an extra time win over Hearts at Hampden. The former Feyenoord gaffer also guided Rangers into the Champions League group stage for the first time in 12 years but they ended up with the worst record in history from their six games as they failed to win a point. And they struggled domestically to lose ground on Celtic in the title race with the pressure building and supporters starting to turn on the Dutchman, a fans’ favourite during his time as a player at Ibrox.
The club announced in a statement: “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 Park said: “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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