Gio Van Bronckhorst was still waiting for word from the Ibrox boardroom as his Rangers future hangs in the balance.
The beleaguered boss, who flew back to Holland over the weekend as Scottish football entered its World Cup shutdown, is due to celebrate his first anniversary in the job on Friday. But the Dutchman now believes that his days at the club may be numbered after the damaging draw with St Mirren on Saturday saw his team lose even further ground on runaway Premiership leaders Celtic.
Now nine points adrift, the clamour for his head continues to grow. Van Bronckhorst admitted in Paisley he expected talks when he said: “We are going to sit down (with the board) and speak about the last couple of months and which way to go forward. I have no fear, I never have fear.” But Record Sport understands his camp have yet to be contacted by chairman Douglas Park or managing director Stewart Robertson, with talks on his future still to be scheduled.
The fans’ clamour for the manager to be sacked comes amid more pressure on the club as Dave King prepares to fly back to Glasgow. He is determined to heap fresh pressure on the under-fire Ibrox board ahead of next month’s powderkeg AGM. If Gers decide to pull the trigger on van Bronckhorst, it’s rumoured the cost of compensation required to remove the former Feyenoord coach and his backroom team could run to more than £3.5million.
Former Ibrox star van Bronckhorst returned to Glasgow last November and brought with him compatriots Dave Vos, Roy Makaay, Arno Philips and Yori Bosschaart, while former Manchester City coaching guru Ceri Bowley joined in the summer. Also, there are signs of disharmony in the ranks, with a report claiming the Rangers boss was in a “disagreement” with Glen Kamara after the match.
The Finland ace was handed his first start since August but was hooked at half-time. It’s claimed he spent the second half in the SMiSA Stadium foyer before moving to the tunnel as James Tavernier’s late penalty rescued a point. Meanwhile, Kamara’s lawyer Aamer Anwar has denied any row. He said “Glen is the utmost professional and has always respected the decisions the manager makes - his position is that there was absolutely no disagreement & any attempt to say there was is based on pure speculation or falsehood.”
Rangers return to action against Hibs on December 15 and ex-Light Blues striker Kenny Miller urged the club to come to a swift decision. He said: “If that decision is to go with Gio there is a lot of work that needs to be done in this break. If the route forward is with Giovanni, that’s fine. If not they have 10 to 14 days to get someone else in.”
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