Dick Advocaat insists the Rangers board owe Gio van Bronckhorst the time to turn around his stalled Ibrox career as payback for the millions the boss has raised for club coffers.
Sunday’s defeat to St Johnstone has heaped fresh pressure on the under-fire Dutchman with his side now seven points adrift of Celtic just 13 games into the Premiership title race. Van Bronckhorst ’s McDiarmid misery came on the back of a Champions League hammering from Ajax, with a sixth straight defeat confirming Rangers are the worst side to reach the group stage after finishing with a goal difference of minus 20.
But while those grim numbers have now left the Ibrox gaffer fighting for his job, his former mentor Advocaat believes the Light Blues board should keep in mind the huge profits he’s generated during his year in charge. The club banked more than £26million with the summer sales of Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey, while last year’s Europa League surge to Seville and this term’s Champions League campaign have produced further lucrative sums.
Now cautioning his old club against knee-jerk reactions, Advocaat, who signed Van Bronckhorst as a player when he took over as Rangers boss in 1998, believes his countryman can turn things around once he gets his crop of injured stars back after the World Cup break.
Advocaat said: “Everybody needs to give Gio time. He showed what he’s capable of at Feyenoord, he showed that last year with Rangers.
“They sold some good players but there’s no reason to be concerned about that. I know it myself how it works at a club like Rangers. It’s not just Gio finding that out. I had it, Walter Smith had it, Alex McLeish had it. If you’re not No.1 you have problems.
“But give him the time. He’s a very young, very good coach. He’s shown how good he was at Feyenoord so don’t worry that one part of the season is not going so well.
“There’s still so many games to come. Last year he did an unbelievable job taking the team to the Europa League Final. He’s brought a lot of money into the club too by reaching Seville, by selling the players like Bassey and Aribo, by getting the team to the Champions League.
“He’s had a lot of injuries and he just needs the time to get to the World Cup. Then maybe he can rebuild things with the players coming back into the squad. Only at that point can you judge. Now is not the time.”
Furious fans let rip in Perth, chanting ‘Gio, Gio get to f**k’ in the moments after Nicky Clark’s winner.
A group of around 50 fans also waited outside the ground after the final whistle to demand answers from their manager and team as they trudged back to the team bus.
Van Bronckhorst has already vowed to battle on and his old manager reckons there is no chance he’ll walk away without a fight. Advocaat said: “Gio is no quitter. And besides there is no reason to do that. He just needs time.”
READ NEXT
