Richard Foster: Rangers need to give Van Bronckhorst chance to regain mojo
- Published
If you go back to last year and the state Celtic were in at this stage as they trailed in the title race, Ange Postecoglou remained confident they could catch Rangers. But he did say they would need to be pretty much perfect.
It's going to take something similar if the opposite is to happen this time around.
Celtic appear relentless in the league. Look at the game against Dundee United on Saturday. They concede a goal with two minutes to go, but you always felt they were going to come back and score. That's what they do - as Ange says, they never stop.
You don't really see that with Rangers. You see them dropping points. With a seven-point gap already, it's hard to work out just how the Ibrox side are going to catch them.
It's not season-ending levels of damage but, after the defeat to St Johnstone on Sunday, they've given themselves a huge mountain to climb.
The pressure on Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been slowly building, and the result in Perth has added to it. And that's on the back of an awful Champions League campaign.
However - and I need to credit my wife with this point - look at St Johnstone. They stuck by Callum Davidson during a really tough season last year where they almost got relegated.
He won two cups with them the campaign before, so I reckon he deserved that time, but they believed in him and they're now doing well. That's the perfect example of why you need to stick by a manager.
Van Bronckhorst took Rangers to the Europa League final just a few months ago with his tactical awareness. He's a good coach. You don't lose that because you're on a poor run.
He needs time to take stock and just calm it all down. In Scotland we get caught up the hype, especially the Old Firm. Fans can shout "Gio out" on Twitter or have a go at players. I'm not saying to keep him only because there's a question mark over who to bring in. It doesn't matter.
I don't think anyone else could catch Celtic on current form. You could bring in Sir Alex Ferguson and he's not going to instantly turn around seven points. So why not just give Van Bronckhorst time to rebuild?
He deserves the right to put it right. Changing now would just mean starting again, like Van Bronckhorst had to do a year ago, where the whole process goes back to stage one. That doesn't help Rangers.
Rangers are not at it, not fully switched on, not up to speed - BBC pundits
World Cup could offer respite
The World Cup break could bring a chance to break things up, though. It does help Rangers take a breath, get players back from injury and get them playing through midfield as they did in the Europa League run - quick passes, one and two-touch moves and driving forward.
As soon as they come up against a low block as they did against St Johnstone, it becomes slow and laboured. Look at St Johnstone's first goal. Jason Brown just gets the ball out his feet and smashes it. I don't think Rangers did that until the second half. They may have had 20-odd shots, but they were nothing.
While the World Cup may help, I'm not sure a January transfer window is going to be some beacon of light on the horizon. They had a window in the summer and they've not got better.
There have been no replacements for Joe Aribo or Calvin Bassey. Bassey came on to a game in the Europa League run, but Aribo is the huge miss. He's the one who would find a pass, a cross, create a bit of magic when Rangers needed it.
Malik Tillman has come in but there are moments when he's just walking about the pitch. That's not acceptable. I'm not blaming it all on him, of course, he's just a young kid. But I don't see how the last window will offer encouragement for the next one, despite the odd exception.
In attack, new signing Antonio Colak has been fantastic. He scores goals, but he's not an Alfredo Morelos at his peak. He needs support and supply. Morelos at the top of his game used to go and make things happen for himself.
On Sunday, the St Johnstone back three were relatively comfortable. That has to change if Rangers are to start climbing that mountain.
Richard Foster was speaking to BBC Scotland's Scott Mullen
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