The Scottish Mail on Sunday

Durrant’s worries are over as Gio’s blueprint is now all going to plan

- By Fraser Mackie

AS Rangers’ title hopes showed the first signs of faltering, Ian Durrant feared Giovanni van Bronckhors­t’s mind would soon need to stray towards a summer rebuild.

Precious Premiershi­p points were dropped to Ross County, Aberdeen, Dundee United and Motherwell before an Ibrox defeat to Celtic ultimately cost Rangers the defence of their crown.

Durrant was concerned for the confidence of the squad and the supporters’ belief in their new appointmen­t.

Yet the Ibrox icon says Van Bronckhors­t and his entirely new staff required time to grasp precisely what members of his squad were capable of as individual­s and the collective before setting them on his chosen path.

The upshot was the spectacula­r run to Wednesday’s Europa League showpiece against Eintracht Frankfurt and the pulsating Hampden defeat of Celtic to tee up a Scottish Cup final with Hearts.

An unpreceden­ted cup double for his club is within touching distance and, so soon after those mid-season miscues, legendary managerial status now awaits.

Durrant could not be more impressed at Van Bronckhors­t seeing off Borussia Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade, Braga and RB Leipzig by deploying his tactics with largely his predecesso­r’s players.

Durrant said: ‘Steven Gerrard was an inspired appointmen­t, a brilliant gamble that paid off.

‘Steven, Gary McAllister and Michael Beale played an amazing part, kicked things off then went on to new things at Aston Villa. Gio became favourite for the job straight away and rightly so.

‘Gerrard was allowed to take his time, had many transfer windows to get what he wanted in.

‘This is still his team in terms of recruitmen­t. Gio’s had only the one transfer window to try to get his ideas going. There’s a new backroom staff, so it’s taken a bit of time.

‘When we lost our way in the league after the turn of the year, I really thought it would be harder for Rangers and Gio, and that we would have to give him time to re-evaluate in the summer.

‘It would have been easy to lose confidence or focus at that stage but they’ve kept going.

‘Gio gave them their homework, tested them to see what they could do and he figured it all out.

‘He has tinkered away brilliantl­y with formations, got his philosophy going and shown great tactical awareness in Europe.

‘That’s been needed because of the players who’ve been injured. It’s incredible they’ve reached a Europa League final without so many key men.’

Filip Helander’s last European game was Alashkert in August, Ianis Hagi was ruled out for the season in January after surgery and major mid-season signing Aaron Ramsey featured for 84 Europa League minutes.

Alfredo Morelos’s campaign ended before the quarter-final stage, while Kemar Roofe missed both last-four ties.

Durrant is convinced that the spirit within the current Ibrox camp is another reason why Rangers have overcome those losses.

A veteran of the Manchester ’08 coaching staff, Durrant says there are echoes of a Walter Smith squad togetherne­ss.

Amid the pain of the sudden passing of kitman Jimmy Bell, Durrant noted a special and emotional motivation stirring against RB Leipzig at Ibrox.

‘The spirit shown has been second to none,’ said Durrant. ‘God rest his soul, Walter always knew if you had a happy dressing room, then you would take that on to the park.

‘The stadium has been rocking since the Borussia Dortmund game and everyone has fed off it. There is an electricit­y about the place.

‘They’ve shown great resilience right when it’s been needed in the European matches. There was the passing of the gaffer late last year, then Jimmy Bell the other week.

‘That was clearly felt by many of the players. Walter and Jimmy will be looking down us, hoping Rangers can get the job done in Seville.’

Durrant recalls toiling to keep tabs on Van Bronckhors­t in their playing days as midfield opponents in the Scottish top flight.

Now he reckons the ex-Feyenoord, Arsenal, Barcelona and Holland World Cup finals star is on the brink of an untouchabl­e achievemen­t as the club’s manager. He’s thrilled at how Van Bronckhors­t has utilised all his vast experience of a worldclass playing career in coaxing an improbable Europa League charge out of these Rangers players.

The dazzling midfielder was a new £4.5million Dick Advocaat recruit from a 1998 summer of lavish spending at Ibrox.

Durrant was starting out again at Kilmarnock, having left Rangers at the end of the Smith era.

‘I played against Gio for Kilmarnock, tried to kick him a few times and get near him but it wasn’t easy,’ confesses Durrant.

‘He’s been fantastic coming back to the club as manager on this run, he’s really got it going and is on the brink of an unbelievab­le season.

‘The manager seems to have the players going that extra yard in European games. If he wins the Europa League and Scottish Cup, then the legendary status is there for him.

‘It has to be the first time in a while that Rangers and Celtic will think they’ve had great seasons.

‘If Giovanni now wins the Europa League and Scottish Cup, Celtic have the League Cup and league title.

‘It’s normally either one or the other who is happy with their lot and the other isn’t. So this season feels pretty unique in many ways.’

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