Hampden glory was crucial for van Bronckhorst
In his first six months in the Ibrox hot seat, Giovanni van Bronckhorst engineered some of the most memorable performances and wins the current generation of Rangers supporters have ever witnessed.
The triumphs away to Borussia Dortmund and at hometorbleipzigintheepic runtotheeuropaleaguefinal offered powerful evidence that the Rangers board had chosen wisely in naming van Bronckhorst as Steven Gerrard’ssuccessorinnovember.
Yet whatever else the Dutch coach goes on to achieve during his tenure, he may have cause to reflect upon Saturday’s Scottish Cup final victoryoverheartsathampdenas arguably the most crucial of his time in charge of the club.
Becauseasvanbronckhorst appreciatesonlytoowellfrom his time as a Rangers player more than 20 years ago, there isnoroomfornuancewhenit comes to defining a successfulseasonforthosewhowear the jersey.
For all of the prestige and praise van Bronckhorst’s team rightly earned from their European exploits, the 2021-22campaignwouldhave been regarded as a failure if they hadn’t overcome Hearts.
Rangerssimplyhadtoclaim thatreveredoldpieceofsilverware in their 65th game of the season to ensure van Bronckhorst can go into the summer with a truly upbeat narrative surrounding his standing in the job.
The agonising manner in which they missed out on the Europa League trophy in a penalty shootout against Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville may gnaw away at the Rangers players for a while yet, along with their regrets at the cheap frittering of points in the Premiership title race which saw them lose their domestic crown to Celtic.
But the cathartic effect of Saturday’s win at Hampden was clear to see in the joyful celebrations of van Bronckhorst, his coaching staff and a playing squad who fully deserved to have something tangible to show for their admirable physical and mentalexertionsoverthepastfew weeks.
There will be precious little time for van Bronckhorst to reflect on his first trophy win as Rangers manager. He must turn his attention to a summer revamp of his squad ahead of a 2022-23 season in whichreclaimingthetitlewill be the priority.
Uncertainty hangs over several of the players who featured at Hampden. Allan Mcgregor, handed a sentimental late substitute outing when he replaced Jon Mclaughlin in goal, seems poised to hang up his gloves at the age of 40.
Defenders Connor Goldson and Leon Balogun are both out of contract – the former has shown no indication of signing a new deal while the latter has made it clear he is eager to do so. Completing the quartet of those whose deals expire next month is midfielder Steven Davis who, at 37, showed against Hearts he still has much to offer.
Van Bronckhorst will also be bracing himself for transferbidsforcalvinbassey.the 22-year-old produced another phenomenal display and has spectacularly emerged in recent weeks as Rangers’ biggest playing asset.
It’s a crucial transfer window for van Bronckhorst but one that he and his board of directors can approach with renewedpurposeandpositivitynowthathehasdelivereda much-needed addition to the Rangers’ honours list.