Scottish club Rangers have appointed Gio Van Bronckhorst as the replacement for Steven Gerrard. The former manager left the club this past week to join Aston Villa in the Premier League. Gerrard helped put a stop to Celtic’s quest for a tenth straight league title, and won the league undefeated.
Van Bronckhorst played for Rangers between 1998 and 2001, and has now returned to the club as the head coach. As a manager, he was previously in charge of Dutch club Feyenoord and won the Eredivisie title in 2016-17 and the KNVB Cup twice.
Most recently, he was in charge of Chinese club Guangzhou R&F. Almost a year later, he is now back as the head coach of a football club. Here is what Gio Van Bronckhorst had to say following the announcement of his return to the club:
“I feel so lucky to be going to work with a squad which is in a great position on all fronts and largely has that experience of being winners,” the former Netherlands international told the club website.
Official and here-we-go confirmed. Gio Van Bronckhorst has been announcement as new Rangers FC manager, also official statement confirms. 🔵 #RangersFC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 18, 2021
After 5 days negotiation, it’s now done and completed. Rangers have their Gerrard replacement. pic.twitter.com/QRkIKax2mE
“I look forward to carrying on and enhancing the work that has been done already alongside (sporting director) Ross Wilson and the board of the club, and I’m grateful for the chance to work again at this huge football club,” he added.
Van Bronckhorst will be in the stands this weekend for Rangers’ game in the league cup. He will take charge of the training session for the first time on Tuesday. The manager’s first game in charge will be in the Europa League on Thursday against Sparta Prague.
