Almost exactly a year on from his appointment, Giovanni van Bronckhorst was sacked as Rangers manager yesterday morning.

In a statement, the club said: "Unfortunately, results and performances over recent months haven’t met expectations and the decision was made today by the board to terminate the contract of the manager.”

Trailing Celtic by nine points in the league and after the worst-ever Champions League group stage performance, it was an outcome that felt inevitable after more dropped points against St Mirren before the World Cup break.

But how did we get here? This is the story of van Bronckhorst’s Rangers reign and how it eventually ended.

Beginnings

Inside Ibrox, van Bronckhorst’s calm persona catalysed an immediate uplift in form last November. It’s easy to forget that towards the end of Steven Gerrard’s spell at the club Rangers were on a six-game run of conceding the first goal and had dropped points at home to Hearts, Motherwell and Aberdeen.

The new manager offered a fresh bounce to a team who’d struggled to click back into gear after winning the club’s 55th league title. It was something Connor Goldson confirmed with comments the day before van Bronckhorst arrived.

"I don't want to say this, but I feel like we've lost a bit of hunger. All of a sudden we're champions and we don't need to work as hard which is wrong,” he said following a 3-1 League Cup defeat against Hibs.

"I feel like that's crept in all season and we haven't been good enough for the whole of this season and hopefully the new manager can come in and give us a spark."

Michael Beale, who left with Gerrard for Aston Villa in November, argued Covid-19 disruptions and a Champions League exit hampered the squad’s domestic start and talked up their hypothetical title chances emphatically.

“Do I think we could have taken it forward? I definitely think we would have won the league,” he said speaking recently on BT Sport’s Currie Club podcast.

“When we left, we were still four points in front. There is no way they (Celtic) would have come past us. We weren’t planning on standing still. We’d evolved subtly over time. The mentality at the time was no one was stopping us.”

Beale will, of course, be biased in his recollection of that time - what manager or coach is not? However, while a 6-1 win over Motherwell and 4-2 victory against Ross County seemed to show the team finding form again, there was a feeling that opponents had started to decipher Rangers’ previously indomitable tactical blueprint, as confirmed by Gerrard in pre-season.

“I have to have the variety because some teams and some managers will try and stop this system. They’ve seen it for some years now,” he said on the topic of introducing a new system that never transpired.

These details are important because they help to contextualise the situation van Bronckhorst inherited. He was appointed a week after Gerrard’s departure, a hugely popular choice amongst fans having played for the club and given his managerial success at Feyenoord. 

“I can see some things that I want to change,” he said speaking at his press conference the following day after witnessing that defeat against Hibs at Hampden, in which every problem experienced to that point in the season culminated over one afternoon.

“I’m sure we can help them before Thursday [a Europa League clash with Sparta] in getting some information across and some details.”

One such detail was recognising the potential of Calvin Bassey during his brief cameo at centre-back, a realisation that would turn the young, second-choice left-back into a £20m centre-back. More on that later.

Van Bronckhorst ripped and relaid the tactical foundations that Gerrard had established and the benefits were immediate. Moving away from the 4-3-2-1, with high full-backs, two No.10s, slow build-up and a narrow shape out of possession. He introduced high and wide wingers, conservative full-backs, No.8s who ran beyond, direct build-up play and a man-orientated pressing scheme.

The changes were immediately beneficial. Direct midfield runs from Joe Aribo and Scott Arfield were notable and effective, Alfredo Morelos looked reinvigorated after seeming to regress at the start of the season, Ryan Kent appeared to benefit from the simplification of his game wide on the left and Bassey, who’d looked lost in the centre away at Sparta Prague just weeks previously, allowed for a proactive, aggressive form of defence.

The manager had his first day with the players on Tuesday November 23. Between a debut game against Slavia Prague on that Thursday and the Boxing Day meeting with St Mirren, he was tasked with managing nine games in little over a month. Eight wins were achieved, including away matches at Livingston, Hearts and Hibs. The signs were promising and the heavy atmosphere of the season’s early months lifted.

During this period there was limited time to work on the training pitch and as a result team meetings and video analysis sessions were vitally important to the Dutchman while he sought to evolve the system of play inherited.

There was more of a focus on the opposition in comparison to the previous regime and an enhanced emphasis on reviewing matches. Individual and group analysis work was also carried out to explain new roles and responsibilities.

In amongst this pre-winter break run was evidence of van Bronckhorst’s reactivity to the opposition. Against Dundee United at Ibrox, he revealed post-match that his team had prepared two systems depending on how United chose to set up. This was an early indication of just how different Gerrard and his successor were in their approaches to domestic football.

Rangers reached the break six points clear at the top, a lead that may well have been more if Covid-19 hadn’t brought it forwards. This offered a chance to review the busy festive period and provided uninterrupted training time for the manager and his staff members.

Wobbles in Scotland/European success

Domestically things started to go wrong from January after an initially perfect period of results. Points were dropped against Aberdeen in a performance that featured little control or ball progression. A win was scraped against Livingston before one of the most influential weekends in the season; Rangers conceded a late equaliser at Ross County to drop two points while Celtic scored a late winner against Dundee United to gain two. A matter of days later, Ange Postecoglou’s side blew Rangers away to go top of the league in a damaging 3-0 Old Firm defeat, where they would stay for the remainder of the season.

It was the type of defeat that appeared resigned to the pre-Gerrard era, particularly given the side had not lost in seven Old Firm fixtures. This provoked a change in structure. An extra central midfielder was brought into the side and Glen Kamara bombed out. On the right an inside forward replaced a winger to offer a central passing option in the form of Scott Arfield or Aaron Ramsey. Rangers looked better balanced domestically as a result. The only other points they dropped before the next Old Firm arrived in games that they should have won. A 1-1 draw against Dundee United, which featured more than sufficient scoring opportunities, and a 2-2 draw at home to Motherwell which epitomised the game of two halves cliché.

This was all happening in conjunction with something very special, however. The Road to Seville. It’s why van Bronckhorst’s tenure has always been, and to a degree will always be, so very hard to judge. For all the criticism faced, he got his team as far as they could go in European competition with only penalty kicks keeping them from immortality. Wins against Borussia Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade, Braga and RB Leipzig saw him smash through the glass ceiling of previous European campaigns. In what felt like a last dance for this team in a competition they’d always enjoyed, everything came together.

Rangers Review:

The famous, fabled 4-2 win against Dortmund was an early example of van Bronckhorst’s intelligent game plan exposing an opponent’s weaknesses. The reverse leg exemplified his tactical tinkering to change the course of matches in-game. He spoke of having “Plan A, B and C”, post-match and this flexibility changed the course of a game just as the Germans started to dominate.

As a manager, he placed a greater emphasis on reviewing matches with the team and was more willing to change and adapt to the opposition than Gerrard, who focused more on how he wanted Rangers to look regardless of who they played. At risk of being too black and white, this proved to be an undoing domestically where Rangers often struggled to break down defence but supercharged the team in Europe. 

In subsequent rounds against Belgrade, Braga and RB Leipzig, Ibrox blew the opposition away. Quick goals, aggressive man-marking and in-game problem-solving made the impossible dream tangible.

Bassey was a cheat-code in defence, Tavernier scored in each home round, Kent played the best football of his career alongside Morelos until he was injured. John Lundstram’s hybrid role between centre-back and centre-midfield allowed for a constant shape-shifting that always left the opposition guessing.

Not restricted by playing a set system, able to adapt even without a striker for the semi-final and tailor his team’s game plans to nullify opponents, this stage showed the best of van Bronckhorst’s managerial ability. These were some of the finest nights Ibrox has experienced and they became so regular a win in the semi-final against Leipzig felt not only possible but plausible. Van Bronckhorst led the team admirably in extremely difficult circumstances that week following the passing of legendary kitman Jimmy Bell.

In amongst all that was an Old Firm defeat in a coin-flip game at Ibrox that all but handed the league to Celtic. At the time there was no appetite from within the club to change managers, despite the league slipping away, before the season-defining Scottish Cup Old Firm semi-final and second leg against Braga. Both of which would ultimately go van Bronckhrost’s way.

The scar tissue of previous seasons meant an unwinding felt inevitable but the Dutchman’s calm demeanour did not change in victory or defeat. Sources always remarked on his largely unaltered mood regardless of results. The season ended with a long overdue domestic cup, seemingly learned lessons from previous Old Firm defeats and a recovery from the lows of early April. Seville was all-encompassing and all-consuming and if not for a penalty kick or two, would’ve ended in the greatest achievement in the club's history.

Rebuild that became a refresh

It was clear to most people in May that a rebuild was imminent. This group of players had taken Rangers are far as they possibly could, not only was it time for fresh blood but a fresh cycle. This squad were so close to the biggest achievement of their lifetimes and perhaps it should’ve been foreseen that a drop would follow.

Allan McGregor was substituted on in the final minutes of the Scottish Cup final win which seemed to confirm his retirement. But new contracts would follow for him and fellow veteran Steven Davis.

And although many have defended the manager by arguing ‘he didn’t get his players’, that notion has been constantly rebuffed in press conferences. It’s understood van Bronckhorst was entirely comfortable working under the sporting director model in place at Ibrox, a system he has been used to throughout his career as a player and coach. While Gerrard did highlight players that he definitely wanted at Ibrox in Connor Goldson, John Lundstram and Jack Simpson, van Bronckhorst was far less demanding.

"It’s not about who makes the final call - we make the call together which is the normal process,” he said speaking in October.

"It’s always collective because we have one goal - to be successful for this club. That’s how I always worked at my club. Coaches always think short term but the club needs to think long term with the vision for many years to come. Coaches, players come and go so it’s very important that the club has a vision. I was never overruled.”

He was influential in retaining the services of Scott Arfield, Davis and McGregor, valuing their experience and leadership around the club on a day-to-day basis.

What didn’t help on the transfer front was mixed messaging. Van Bronckhorst only ruled out the possibility of extra additions well after the window was closed, keeping the possibility alive after Champions League football was secured. Supporters anticipated an extra arrival after the superb win over PSV in Eindhoven and mixed in with the subsequent Old Firm humiliation and thumping in Amsterdam, the mood never recovered.

He also made ill-judged comments after the 4-0 defeat to Ajax, stating Rangers couldn’t be expected to compete at Champions League level, despite the fact that the team they’d defeated to get there, PSV, went into the winter break level on points with Ajax in the Eredivisie.

His team played as though results weren’t possible from that point onwards, in stark contrast to the result in Eindhoven. That win felt like progression because of the side’s confidence in possession which looked to have benefitted from an entire pre-season.

The worst-ever Champions League group record would follow and although the manager consistently referenced the levels his team were up against, he always failed to acknowledge the plight of his own from the previous season. How far would the 22/23 performance have taken Rangers on the Road to Seville? If financial disparity restricted the right to compete, the Europa League run would’ve ended in Dortmund. Belief was palpably low and humiliating defeats all too regular.

The End

Without the distraction of Europe, league football became the predominant focus for the first time under the Dutchman and despite consistent results, performances suggested they would not last forever. That notion came to pass in a dreadful run of two points from nine against Livingston, St Mirren and St Johnstone before the World Cup break. Run-of-the-mill league games for any potential winners proved a stumbling block that saw the Ibrox side fall nine points behind.

Rangers were repeatedly booed off the pitch and more than anger, apathy often filled the stands. Supporters did not seem to believe that this style of football would return the league title and the dropped points justified this prediction.

Injuries played a huge part in results but even before key players were ruled out this mood existed under the surface. Brian Laudrup criticised the Dutchman’s body language during the spell but more than looking defeated, van Bronckhorst constantly exuded a frustration that felt in conflict with the zen style of last term. There was even the sight of Tavernier barking back in anger at his manager as Rangers trailed St Mirren which summarised the mood. It was a performance that felt like a falling apart.

Sky’s release of an interview with the Dutchman over the weekend, marking his year at Ibrox, appeared to confirm suspicions that no change would be made during the break. However, that interview took place during the week before a 1-1 draw with St Mirren, and aired the following weekend, with van Bronckhorst and the players on holiday after the point in Paisley.

Talks took place in the intervening time and a decision was made over the weekend to relieve van Bronckhorst of his duties. Although some attention was drawn to the fact that Ross Wilson was not quoted in Rangers' statement, it's understood chairman Douglas Park was considered the best person to comment rather than anything more revealing. The sporting director has faced criticism in recent months but is now tasked with leading the search for a new manager, a year on from his last appointment. 

Why did it not work? Domestically, van Bronckhorst’s footballing philosophy felt misaligned with league success. The adaptability to the opposition was more suited to punching upwards in Europe than downwards in the Premiership. As a result, Rangers never looked like a fine-tuned attacking possession team capable of breaking down the low block which is of course, 70 percent of the job remit.

Van Bronckhorst will always be remembered as the man who took Rangers within penalty kicks of European glory. But ultimately after a year in charge, his football did not look likely to deliver domestic dominance. 

READ MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR: