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Keith Jackson

Rangers face intolerable backlash crisis as Gio runs out of luck and goodwill – Keith Jackson

It's difficult to know which of them is facing the bigger crisis.

The absolute car crash of a woman behind the door of No.10 Downing Street or the men in charge of taking care of the Big Hoose on Edmiston Drive. Because right now Rangers have a colossal job on their hands as they attempt to navigate a safe path out of increasingly choppy waters.

Yes, the three points Giovanni van Bronckhorst ’s side secured at Fir Park will have at least alleviated some of the pressure which has been building around the manager in the wake of that 7-1 Champions League beasting from Liverpool on Wednesday night. It may have been a rather unconvincing 2-1 victory but if ever there was an any-port-in-a-storm moment for the Dutchman then it was surely at lunchtime in Lanarkshire yesterday. Anything less than a victory would have left Van Bronckhorst facing an intolerable backlash from a support which is running dangerously low on levels of tolerance.

And it was almost completely exhausted by half time when Rangers headed up the tunnel having failed to land a serious blow on their opponents. So, having been seemingly stared down by such a nightmarish scenario, Van Bronckhorst will have been greatly relieved that his players were at least willing and able to dig out a second half performance on his behalf.

Malik Tillman’s solo run and John Lundstram’s shoulder were enough to get the job done and buy the boss a bit of badly needed breathing space. For the time being at least. And yet it does feel now as if van Bronckhorst is seriously up against it and, worse still, running out of luck as well as goodwill.

With Rangers now in danger of recording the worst ever set of group stage numbers in Champions League history, the embarrassment factor is impossible to ignore. Zero points from four matches. Sixteen goals conceded. One scored. With a trip to Napoli to come next midweek.

The odds are stacking up against him from every conceivable angle. Of course, Rangers could always point across the city for some sort of vindication given that Celtic have taken just one point from a slightly less daunting section.

But that would be a gross distortion of the reality at both clubs. Ange Postecoglou has not only been backed generously in the transfer market but the Aussie has been afforded free reign to plot Celtic’s way forward.

They may suffer some bumps and bruises along the way - as they undoubtedly have done in Group F - but, even so, Postecoglou can point to the progress which is being made at pitch level as justification for his methods. And, as far as winning the battle for the public’s vote is concerned, he’s pushing at an open door.

Celtic ’s support is almost unanimous in its emphatic backing of the boss. Van Bronckhorst is not being afforded similar empathy at the polls.

Because, while Celtic believe they are heading in the right direction Rangers, on the contrary, are a team declining more steeply than the pound against the dollar. Given the medical history of Filip Helander and John Souttar, perhaps it was even a reckless one.

Because now it turns out that Connor Goldson is not as indestructible as once seemed, van Bronckhorst has been left with a monumental defensive conundrum to solve if he is to keep his side clinging to Celtic’s coattails at the top of the table. With Helander and Souttar still nowhere to be seen it’s now left to youngster Leon King to fill Goldson’s boots even if that means the teenager is exposed to all manner of danger, as he was against the likes of Roberto Firmino, Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah.

It’s a great credit to King that, whatever untold damage might have been done to his self confidence last Wednesday night didn’t appear to follow him to Fir Park yesterday afternoon. And, in game changer Tillman, Rangers relied upon to another inexperienced youngster to start digging them out of hole.

But the American’s moment of magic does not mask the fact that Joe Aribo’s creative influence has not been adequately replaced since his £10m sale to Southampton in the summer. And then there’s the £5m fee laid out for a lightweight of a left back who seems destined to be sent back to Turkey on loan the moment the next transfer window opens for business.

All on top of a failure to secure the futures of Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos, both of whom are now weeks away from being able to leave as free agents. Kent operated on the fringes of yesterday’s game once again while Morelos watched most of it from a seat on Van Bronckhorst’s bench.

If this pair are not able to make a more meaningful contribution to helping out the manager in his moment of need, then it becomes impossible to fathom why they have been kept around as depreciating assets. These are all hugely testing issues with which Van Bronckhorst has been left to wrestle as he fights to protect his own managerial credentials.

It’s certainly not a job for the faint of heart so Van Bronckhorst will require cast iron resolve as well as a sharp tactical and analytical mind if he is to come out on the other side with his season intact and his position secured.

And the PM thinks she’s got problems.

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