Barry Ferguson has demanded showdown talks between the Rangers board and Giovanni van Bronckhorst just 10 weeks after claiming the Ibrox boss could have Ange Postecoglou and Celtic sussed out.
Ferguson has refused to call for Van Bronckhorst to leave his position but has admitted he is unsure if his former teammate will continue in the role after slipping nine points behind the Bhoys in the league.
Speaking to The Daily Record today, the former Rangers captain said: “The first conversation has to be between Gio and the board and it has to happen straight away. I know he’s gone back home but this conversation can’t be put off any longer.
“They need to discuss where it’s gone wrong over the last couple of months, where they want to be in the next couple of months – and how they plan to go about getting there. If they can agree on how to do it then they should come out and give Gio their backing. Tell the fans and the players that he’s in charge and that the club will be bringing in new players ahead of the second part of the season.
“But if they can’t agree and they decide they need to make a change, then they have to get on with it. Don’t leave everyone hanging any longer. One way or another a decision has to be made and the club needs to be given a sense of direction. I realise the club can’t come out and comment every time there’s any sort of issue. But this isn’t just any issue – this is huge – and it needs to be addressed with real urgency.”
It comes after a column written for the same paper in September where he claimed that Van Bronckhorst’s tactical flexibility gave Rangers an upper hand over Celtic in the derby and that the Dutch manager could well have Postecoglou ‘sussed’.
Subsequently, Celtic thrashed the Ibrox side 4-0 at Celtic Park thanks to a Liel Abada double, Jota stunner and David Turnbull effort. In the time since, the Bhoys have surged ahead at the top of the table with a one-dimensional Rangers labouring against weaker opposition.
It seems we’re already at that stage of the season where the confident words of Rangers-minded pundits are coming back to haunt them. They seem to have hit a full-blown crisis, with the ongoing silence only apparently winding up supporters and former players even more, on top of recent poor form.
This is good news for us, of course. The longer indecision reigns at Rangers, the less likely it is for them to turn things around this season.
In other news, Celtic announce Hampden details as Ange Postecoglou aims for trophy number 3.
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