JOHNSON: RANGERS TOO QUICK TO SACK GIO

LEE JOHNSON believes the Rangers board was hasty in dispensing with Giovanni van Bronckhorst so soon after Europa League heroics and Scottish Cup success.

The Hibernian manager faces his second Ibrox boss this season when providing the opposition for Michael Beale’s competitive debut in charge. Johnson’s team, with a 2-2 Easter Road draw in August, was responsible for two of the 12 points dropped by Van Bronckhorst’s Rangers as they slipped nine points off the title pace.

However, Johnson suggests the Dutchman was victim of his own success and was denied sufficient time to mould a squad to his liking.

The Easter Road boss (right) explained: ‘I’m always an advocate of keeping managers in situ. Because I think managers are often blamed for the results and, normally, there’s a bigger picture there.

‘I understand the pressure falls on the manager because it’s your name on the door. But I can only say, if I was an owner and it was my money — and if I believed I had the right man in place — I would give him an adequate number of windows to change it round. ‘I would understand recent success and look at the context. I feel at Rangers, maybe the expectation was so high and sometimes you can then be a victim of your own success.

‘I think it’s a classic example of that. I suppose we’ll only know in a year, 18 months, depending on how the new regime does.

‘I think Gio could walk away with his head held high, look himself in the mirror and know he’s done absolutely everything he could.’ Johnson asserted that the major issue confronting new manager Beale is the quality of the current Celtic set-up.

‘Celtic are a top side and, obviously, they’re chasing those guys,’ noted the former Bristol City and Sunderland manager. ‘From my point of view, looking at it from the outside, they (Rangers) are just not as good — simple as that.’