Rangers sack van Bronckhorst as Celtic take control of Scottish Premiership

November 22 - Scottish giants Rangers have sacked Dutch manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst after just a year in the role, with the club nine points behind bitter rivals Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.

Rangers released a brief statement saying the team's recent form "has failed to live up to expectations".

Van Bronckhorst, a former Rangers player, was named Steven Gerrard's successor a year ago and led the club to the Europa League final and a first Scottish Cup triumph in 13 years at the end of his first season at the helm.

Under him the club also sealed their first Champions League qualification in 12 years, but lost all group games and fell behind Celtic domestically.

"The Board of Directors would like to express its sincere thanks to Gio for all his efforts since his appointment as manager," the statement read.

"Unfortunately, the results and performance of the last few months have not met expectations and the decision was taken today by the board of directors to terminate the manager's contract. The search for the new manager is now in progress."

Van Bronckhorst, who had signed a three-and-a-half-year contract, becomes one of the least active permanent managers in the club's history, with only Pedro Caixinha and Paul Le Guen leaving earlier.

Rangers have just over three weeks to find a successor, with the team playing their first match after the World Cup break at home against Hibernian on December 15.

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