GIOVANNI van Bronckhorst tonight admitted that he could understand the negative reaction to Rangers’ narrow Premier Sports Cup quarter-final win over Dundee from the Ibrox club’s supporters – and admitted his side’s performances must improve.
Fans of the Glasgow giants booed at the end of the unconvincing 1-0 victory over the Dens Park club despite their team booking a semi-final against Aberdeen at Hampden in January.
But Van Bronckhorst confessed that he could appreciate why they were unhappy with the display of James Tavernier and his team mates against their Championship rivals.
“They are right,” he said. “I wasn't happy either. When you play well you get the applause, but when you don't play well at a club like Rangers they should boo you.
“We need to know and feel that the performance in the last half an hour is not good enough and we need to improve.
“Tomorrow we need to analyse the game and speak to the players who underperformed and make sure it doesn't happen again on Saturday (when Rangers play Livingston in the cinch Premiership at Ibrox).
“We're through to the semi-finals, but we cannot be happy with the performance. We needed to rotate and it is positive we are through to the semi-final, but I’m not happy with the way we played.
“In the last 25 minutes we dropped our levels and we didn't not have any good movement. I wasn't happy at all with our performance.
“We have some injuries so we need to keep everyone fresh. Everyone needs to perform and play well when they come in. It’s not always easy when you haven’t played a lot of games, I know that. Still, when you play for Rangers in these moments you have to be there and perform. That’s what we need to improve.”
Van Bronckhorst added: “You’re never happy after a bad performance and the crowd reacts to it, which they have every right to. All we can do, all I can do, is keep working hard with my players so make sure we are improving and can make the fans proud.
“We’re still there in the league, working and fighting to become champions. We’re still in the cup competitions, but obviously you’ll also be honest and see when the performances aren’t well you have to improve.”
