'I never expected this' - Michael Mols speaks on Giovanni van Bronckhorst as Rangers manager

When Michael Mols looked around him at his team-mates in the Rangers dressing room around two decades ago, the last man he expected to one day take charge of the Ibrox club was Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

“No, no, no – I didn’t expect him to become a manager because he hardly said anything in the dressing room,” says Mols.

“He wouldn’t give ideas and say ‘right boys, we need to do this’. He was more relaxed and quiet. He would just do his thing and do his best for the team.

“That is the way he played – now he is a manager and there are points where you need to show it or tell how to do it. I never expected him to do this but hopefully it works out for him.”

Never in his four months in the job has it needed to work out more for van Bronckhorst than it does this Sunday when Rangers face Premiership leaders Celtic at Ibrox in the most significant match of the title race so far.

His Dutch compatriot Mols, who still avidly follows the fortunes of his old club, feels van Bronckhorst has to make amends for last month’s 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park which handed the initiative to their Old Firm rivals.

“It was a difficult night for them but also for me,” says Mols. “I watched the game but I could only watch halfway and then I stopped and turned off the TV. It was hard to watch. Hopefully they are going to change it and this time they have a chance.

“Gio will have analysed the game and seen what went wrong and what went OK and he needs to work it out. That is what every manager does and I think he will do that too.

“Am I impressed by how he has done so far? Well, they were six points in front of Celtic and it changes now and they are three points behind. That is football. For him, it was difficult because he came in halfway through the