WITH the future of Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst up in the air, it’s not only the performances of his team on the park that has drawn criticism.
The Dutchman’s body language was called into question by Ibrox legend Brian Laudrup recently to which van Bronckhorst responded by calling the Dane’s comments ‘stupid’.
In the last three matches, five points have been dropped on the road against St Johnstone and St Mirren to leave Rangers trailing Premiership leaders Celtic by nine points, not to mention languishing behind in the goal difference department.
Laudrup has since responded to van Bronckhorst’s reaction to his original point in his Daily Mail column in which he said: “Last week, I spoke about van Bronckhorst's body language, his whole demeanour, really and whether it looked as though he truly believed he could turn things around in terms of recent performances and results.
“I know he responded to me with some comments of his own. He was perfectly entitled to do so. I have no problem with that at all.
“But I stand by what I said. Because the point I was trying to make was about the impression it gave to others. Including players.
“I was thinking back to my time and whether I'd seen a manager look the downbeat way van Bronckhorst did as his team lost to St Johnstone.
“Even in van Bronckhorst's own playing days, he might have wondered what was going on if his manager didn't look as if he could change things or turn it around.”
Laudrup’s comments are intriguing. This is someone who played under some of the greatest and most animated coaches in the game from Jupp Heynckes at Bayern Munich to Fabio Capello at AC Milan, not to mention Walter Smith at Rangers but the great man himself hasn’t always got it right when it comes to managers.
Prior to being granted a wildcard entry to Euro 92’ at the expense of war-torn Yugoslavia, he briefly retired from the Danish national team and was scathing in his assessment of the coach at the time. He said: “I don’t respect Richard Moller Nielsen as coach, and therefore I might as well stop now. I can’t display myself under him, and he doesn’t like me as a player.”
Of course, the rest is history as Laudrup and Moller Nielsen buried the hatchet before the Danes would embark on a remarkable campaign that would culminate in beating West Germany in the final.
Like everyone, he is entitled to his opinion but it doesn’t make it gospel.
Laudrup’s point that van Bronckhorst’s demeanour may be having a negative impact on the players is purely perception and not something that can be accurately measured. It’s an issue that certainly didn’t seem to rear its head as Rangers made their way to the Europa League final.
That being said, given performances on the pitch have been so abject of late, the eye test tells you the manager is struggling to motivate and get the best out of this group of players.
If you look back on the club’s most successful managers, the majority of them kicked every ball on the touchline. From Steven Gerrard to Walter Smith, Graeme Souness to Jock Wallace. Even so, it’s by no means a guarantee of success. Take Gerrard as an example, he was afforded two trophyless seasons before leading the club to 55.
Van Bronckhorst is right to back himself when it comes to how he goes about his business in the dugout. However, the recent optics have led Laudrup and others to question if he has the ability to overturn the slump in form.
The only thing that will put those concerns to bed is wins but whether he gets the opportunity to try remains to be seen.
Body language is not high on the list of gripes, personally speaking, but it seems to be just one of a number of negative slants being directed at the Rangers manager with supporter backing rapidly diminishing.
This piece is an extract from today’s Rangers Insider newsletter, which is emailed out at 5pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Rangers Review team.
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