Rangers sack Van Bronckhorst after falling behind Celtic in title race

Rangers have sacked manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst after falling off the pace in the Scottish Premiership title race.

Van Bronckhorst joined Rangers last November following Steven Gerrard’s move to Aston Villa, leading them to a Scottish Cup triumph and a Europa League final – where they were beaten by Eintracht Frankfurt – last term.

However, Van Bronckhorst was unable to inspire consistency in the Scottish Premiership, with Rangers finishing last season four points behind Celtic and entering the World Cup break nine adrift of their Old Firm rivals.

Rangers also endured a chastening Champions League campaign this term, becoming the first Scottish team to lose all six of their group-stage games in the competition.

Van Bronckhorst’s team conceded 22 goals across those matches, which included a 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool and a 4-0 defeat at Ajax.

In a statement on Rangers’ website on Monday, chairman Douglas Park said: “I want to thank Gio for the hard work he has put in over the last 12 months and, especially the achievements of taking the club to the Europa League final and winning the Scottish Cup last season.

“Unfortunately, recent results have not met neither our nor Gio’s expectations, and we have taken this difficult decision today. Everyone at Rangers wishes Gio every success in the future.”

With the Scottish Premiership campaign on hold for the World Cup in Qatar, Rangers have over three weeks to find a replacement before they host Hibernian on December 15.

Rangers Football Club confirms today it has parted company with manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

The board would like to put on record sincere thanks to Gio for all his efforts since his appointment as manager.https://t.co/ESRS10qpJP pic.twitter.com/aLGIiXa2sS

— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) November 21, 2022