DAVE KING believes former Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst suffered the same issues as predecessor Steven Gerrard ahead of his Ibrox exit.

The Dutchman was sacked on Monday after overseeing a wretched run that leaves Rangers nine points adrift of Celtic in the title race and licking their wounds from an embarrassing Champions League campaign.

Van Bronckhorst lasted just 12 months at Ibrox following his appointment as Gerrard's successor as the man that delivered a historic 55th Premiership title opted to join Aston Villa halfway through his fourth term as boss.

King has cited a breakdown in the relationship between Gerrard and chairman Douglas Park as key to that decision and the former chairman addressed the fortunes of Van Bronckhorst and Ross Wilson during a Q&A session with Club 1872 on Monday evening.

King said: “The position that Rangers were in at the beginning of last season was really one where I thought we would embark on a number of titles and would go on to win a number in a row.

“If it wasn’t for the fact that, first of all, Steven was let down in terms of the money that was promised to him and then secondly when his relationship with the chairman got to the point when he was effectively forced out.

“To me, I don’t think the circumstances that forced Steven out of the club were any better when Gio came in. Therefore I am kind of guarded in my comments about Gio and Ross Wilson.

“I do think they have probably come up, over the last year, against some of the same obstacles with the board that Steven encountered and that lead effectively to Steven being forced out of the club at a time when he was top of the league and in the semi-final of the cup.

“To some extent, I think we scored an own goal. But whether that own goal can be attributed to Ross Wilson, I am not certain.”

READ MORE: