Van Bronckhorst on potential summer rebuild and 'love' of being Rangers boss - Q+A in full

Here is everything he had to say.

Antonio Colak has just received the award for Premiership Player of the Month. Why do you think he has settled so well and performed at the level he has?

I think he is happy with his performances this season so far. He is scoring a lot of goals for us, important goals. For me, his adaptation has been pretty good. I think Borna (Barisic) has helped him a lot, to settle in Glasgow. He is a very open character, very nice to have around not only for me as a coach and the staff but also the other players. He is well-liked in the dressing room so it is very positive to see his contribution so far for Rangers.

He has been a very positive signing, but I think that Rangers fans have looked at other signings and one question that they have, if you're able to provide clarity on it, is who makes the final call on that process. Is it you or is it Ross Wilson?

When you have signings, you will of course have some who adapt quicker in the line-up, that is the same for every team. The focus when it doesn't go well is always on the players who aren't playing which I also know is the case. As I said before, we had a plan to get new players, which is always the case when you lose many players from last season. We were finished quite early in the window with all our acquisitions. As always, you work with a list, with the scouting team, I have a list of players that I follow myself and due to various reasons, you come to the players we have brought in now. It is not about who makes the final call, we do it together which is the normal process.

After the final Champions League game in midweek, how is the confidence among your players?

As I said after the game it was a disappointing result. We don't play anymore in Europe, we will need to wait until next season. It has been an experience for all of us in the Champions League and we need to learn the hard lessons of the last six games. We have to focus now on the league so we put Europe behind us, to go forward and into the next big game which is St Johnstone on Sunday.

With the three games left until the World Cup, how important is it that you see strong performances from your players, along with results?

It is important, we have the last three games, we need to have nine points, that is the clear goal we have for the next week.

Last week against Aberdeen, we saw a much better attacking display. What did you and your staff do to improve the tempo and transitions and how do you make sure that is the norm, domestically?

Two things, I think we started really well. We had the right positions on the pitch with the right passing, accuracy and speed. I think also the way Aberdeen played, they gave us a lot of space to play which is not usually the case at home. It was very positive for us to play the way we did last week but I think we made the right decisions with Aberdeen coming to press us really high so we used the space we had in that game very wisely. That is why we had a very convincing win.

You have been in the Rangers job for almost a year, how have you reflected on your time in charge of the club?

I love it, I love every day I am involved with this club. It has been great to be back since the first day when I stepped in after the loss against Hibs in the League Cup semi-final. Every day I come to this club, I enjoy it, to work with my staff and the players. It has been a year now but as at any club, we have had many highs as well as lows, but I am enjoying every day I am here.

In terms of this weekend's game against St Johnstone, when Rangers have gone there in the past, St Johnstone have tended to pack the midfield and allow you to come on to them. What are the instructions to the team going into a match like this where they will have a lot of the ball but face a massed defence?

We also had it in the home game where they played quite defensively but we had a comfortable win in that game. As you said, it is about the decisions you make when you have the ball against facing a deep block, defending as a tight unit. That will probably be the case on Sunday so we have to make the right decisions and make sure we attack the right spaces. It will be different to a home game, like against Aberdeen, but we know how the opposition is going to play and which system, so we just have to make the right decisions and have a positive approach to the game like last week.

Last week, John Lundstram played in a more advanced position, it was very noticeable what he brought to the attack. Is that something that we might see more of this season?

It is possible. I think John fulfilled that role really well, a little bit higher up the pitch like he used to. It also depends on which players we have available for games because we may need to switch but I think John can play the 6 as well as the 8.

How important is that intensity from the start as you seek a positive performance and result?

For every game, it’s important to start really well and to score really quickly. I think last year we scored in the second minute with Kamara. That always helps when you are playing against teams who are defending really low just to open up spaces because they have to come out to score. The longer you don’t score a goal the more defensive they will be and the more comfortable they are and getting stronger each minute. It’s very important to start well, create chances and try to score an early goal but also keep your patience and don’t the impatience of not scoring a goal affect your game.

Any injury updates and can we see Glen Kamara at the start at the weekend?

Glen came in on Tuesday so he will be available for Sunday. Of course, we have John [Lundstram] back from suspension and Charlie McCann is ready and eligible to play. We still have one session left tomorrow and then we’ll see how the squad is but we don’t have any really major doubts for Sunday.

Would you accept that the Europa League is Rangers’ level?

You’ve seen the level we’ve faced in the Champions League. We played really well against PSV and Union in the qualification rounds, both teams who are comfortably through in the Europa League. The difference in the level is there, it’s for everyone to see. It’s also, for us, we sense that and we felt it in all the games we played in the Champions League. Pot 4 teams always have it difficult and we have experienced it this year. If you compare last year and this year, it’s a big difference but also a difference in levels. I think the longer you’re going to play at Champions League level the more experience the players have to compete against the players who are playing in the Champions League the better it will be. It’s been 12 years since we played at this level with Rangers and hopefully, we are there next year but it’s not like every time the Champions League is played we are there, that’s not the case but we want to be there and I think that will help the development of the team and the players. It’s really tough if you see the teams that qualified and the teams that didn’t qualify for the next round. Really big teams like Juventus or Barcelona who are out, that’s the level that you face and it’s been hard.

Do you still believe it’s better for Rangers to be in a competition like that even though you were in a very difficult group?

We had a discussion a couple of weeks ago. Once you can qualify for the Champions League, you want your players to do it and we had that. We qualified for the first time in 12 years so that’s a very big compliment to my players to achieve that. It wasn’t easy qualification rounds with Union and PSV so that’s what you want to get the maximum out of the games. That means if you can qualify for the Champions League you will always have to do it. There’s no discussion for me to say, ‘Okay, the Champions League level is too high, we’re not going to try to reach the Champions League.’ It’s impossible.

The PSV game was a massive achievement but it’s felt like getting past that hurdle has led to more criticism as opposed to going into the Europa League and getting through and going on a run.

It’s the same for the players and the same for me as a boss. I’ve played at the best clubs in Europe competing for the highest prizes and as a coach, I want the same. I want to be in the Champions League. Our dream was to be in the Champions League after 12 years so when you work hard in trying to achieve that which we did against PSV you are very proud of the achievement but you also know it’s not the Europa League you are playing in, it’s the Champions League. Success always brings expectation, especially when you have to go up a level. The expectation will still be there and that’s why you will have the games we had in Europe with big defeats but that’s part of the game. I wouldn’t have changed anything that happened this year for my team and their experience.

(Image: Rangers Review)

Do you think this team will be together enough to learn given there are 10 players out of contract in the summer?

You said we have 10 players out of contract or end of their loan so that will mean you will have to change 10 players if those players don’t extend or aren’t here anymore. It’s hard because you want to develop a team but you always know at the end of this season I don’t know what’s happening with all the players. It could be that we have 10 new players coming in next year which will also mean you still have to develop again as a team to gel together. That’s also a thing we will have to wait and see how the team will look next season.

Is that the difficulty at Rangers when you look at the Champions League where your budget is maybe two or three times smaller than Ajax but when it comes to the domestic scene and it’s the other way around?

Last week we had the question, ‘You have more budget than Aberdeen,’ it’s normal that we win against Aberdeen when the budget’s so much more. They can give you a really hard game like we also sense but 4-1 and people say it’s normal we win 4-1. So we face Liverpool who maybe have eight or 10 times more budget and then we lose as well. It’s impossible. What we have in Scotland with the difference in money and spending we feel the same in the Champions League and that’s just facts and how European football is hard. That doesn’t mean you can’t get good results because we showed that in Europe but in the long haul it’s very difficult.

Were you overruled at any point with any players you wanted to bring to the club?

Not overruled. Of course, we’re looking into positions and players coming in and some players just didn’t want to come or the transfer fees and salaries were too high. It’s a normal process. Of course, you have an ideal situation where you want this player or that player but in the end, you also know we have to keep to our budget and keep to our budget for salaries but also the budget we can invest in for players. That’s the policy that I think is important for the club for the future. We are trying to get the best players in as possible but I never got overruled for a player I wanted to have, it’s impossible.

Do you expect to have to look for 10 new players next summer?

I don’t hope so but it’s still football and its players out of contract. You’re not deciding their future but they have their future in their own hands and it’s their decision because they’re out of contract. It can be 10, it can be less I don’t know. It’s dependent on how the next coming months go but obviously, we have a lot of players out of contract.