Charlie Nicholas has accused Giovanni van Bronckhorst of looking "weak" amidst a poor run of Rangers form. But he reckons the Ibrox board should wait three weeks before considering getting rid.
The Light Blues slipped four points behind Celtic at the weekend after struggling to a home draw against ten-man Livingston. The Light Blues are already out of the Champions League and face the daunting prospect of facing in-form Napoli in Naples tonight as they look to recover from a 7-1 hammering at the hands of Liverpool.
Van Bronckhorst is coming under increasing pressure and another heavy defeat on the continent tonight won't help matters. The Dutchman has been talking about the need to fight in recent press conferences but performances aren't backing that up on the pitch with Rangers struggling to create and are in danger if falling even further behind their rivals at the top if things don't improve.
Nicholas thinks the Gers boss has less than a month so save his job. And he also took aim at Postecoglou, accusing the Hoops coach of shutting down any debate when his style is queried following a less than fruitful Champions League campaigns so far.
He wrote in his Daily Express column: "Giovanni van Bronckhorst deserves at least three more weeks before Rangers should even consider sacking him as manager.
"The Dutchman can survive this difficult period in the hot seat as long as the four-point deficit between his side and Premiership leaders Celtic doesn't widen before the World Cup break.
"Nevertheless, the club's board and fans are well within their rights to ask why he isn't getting better performances out of his players. Van Bronckhorst has come across as weak in public recently. His press conference comments have been worrying.
"After scraping a 1-1 home draw with Livingston last weekend he said that he still thinks the players are behind him - but why did he feel the need to mention that? His opposite number across the river is under a bit of scrutiny himself over Champions League results, but Ange Postecoglou is always very quick to bat away any debate whenever his methods are questioned.
"People talk about the here and now but it shouldn't be forgotten that van Bronckhorst brought in a huge amount of much-needed cash from Rangers' run to last season's Europa League final, restoring the feelgood factor at Ibrox in the process.
"He also led Gers to Scottish Cup glory and guided them into the Champions League group stage against the odds. So what are critics saying now? That he's not a good manager?
"Of course, people can lose their way in their vision of where they are trying to get to and van Bronckhorst's transfer market judgment has been questionable. That said, was he given the cash he asked for in the summer?Was he told to wait until January to spend the Euro millions, and will he even be trusted to do so?
"But I don't see any value in binning van Bronckhorst right now. Rangers aren't going to get anything against Napoli in Italy tomorrow, so that will close the European door for this season. So the club's hierarchy need to sit tight and see where they are next month when the league shuts down."
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