Gers had walked tightrope but the show’s still on the road as they make clowns of Czechs Victory just the trick as Gio gets flying start
THE tricks might be left to the circus at Ibrox but the show is back on the road under new boss Gio van Bronckhorst.
There was still room for Rangers’ Europa League ringmaster Alfredo Morelos to whip up the crowd.
Gers fans were breathing fire at the weekend after they took a tumble out of the Premier Sports Cup to Hibs and Connor Goldson’s claims about the side lacking a bit of hunger had fans blowing their big tops.
But there was nothing wrong with the desire last night as Rangers ensured the troupes are on tour in the Europa League in the new year after Brondby failed to be Lyon tamers.
Mind you, it required some brilliant acrobatics from Allan McGregor to make sure there was no awkward twist at the end – but van Bronckhorst was thrilled with his flying start.
And the reaction from his squad.
No.2 Roy Makaay went viral with his video telling Ryan Kent tricks were for the circus – and this was precisely what the new coaching staff demanded.
Morelos was back to his ferocious best, while Goldson produced the kind of display that will see him back in the Gers fans’ good books.
Sure, the Sparta defence could have been wearing shirts with water-squirting flowers but the Light Blues couldn’t afford a repeat of the comical defending at Hampden. And there wasn’t.
When these sides met in Prague it was the 10,000 school kids who were doing more than clowning around.
The booing of Glen Kamara for having the audacity to be upset at being racially abused by a player from Sparta’s city rivals Slavia last season was one of the game’s head-scratching moments.
And it meant there was not going to be any love lost between these two again last night.
It was a heck of a return for the new manager. Van Bronckhorst was stuck in the stands at Hampden as he watched it unravel.
But here he was prowling the Ibrox touchline, determined to put his own stamp on the place.
He was so animated there were times when it looked like it might have needed a guy with a chair and a whip to keep him in the technical area.
The Dutchman promised changes in the build up and he was true to his word. There wasn’t quite as many as some predicted – or others might have hoped.
Calvin Bassey replacing Leon Balogun and Ianis Hagi swapping places with Scott Arfield did van Bronckhorst for starters.
There was also a tweak in the system with Hagi and Kent hugging touchlines rather than running channels.
There was a general feeling of a fresh start as well.
Steven Gerrard turned the club from slap stick to serious winners, but there have been worrying signs this season the show had lost a bit of sparkle.
Losing silly goals left the side walking a tightrope far too often – and they took a tumble without a safety net on Sunday.
It had been coming but last night was a chance to hit the reset button and the place was rocking.
There was a reaction from the side as well. Rangers knew Sparta were there for the taking.
They’d conceded 11 goals in their previous four games.
The first goal is always big in these games – but it was going to be huge for Rangers last night.
They have got into a nasty habit of giving rivals a start.
Six times in a row they had offered a leg up to their opponents but this time it was the Ibrox men who put the boot in first.
Gers were making Sparta jump through hoops in those first frantic exchanges and a quick-fire second seemed in the post.
But it did get a little intense for the manager’s liking when the visitors edged in to the game.
The Sparta fun fair stuff at the back did the job for greatest showman Morelos again but they should have been out of sight before it got a bit nervy at the end.
No one said to van Bronckhorst it was going to be trapeasy.