Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink hails Rangers job being done by old pal Giovanni van Bronckhorst - and reveals Hibs job interest

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has backed former team-mate Giovanni van Bronckhorst to keep impressing at Rangers.

The Dutch duo roomed together at the 1998 World Cup in France – but despite their close friendship, never discussed going into management during their playing careers.

Speaking after his Burton Albion side went down 4-2 to Hibs in a pre-season encounter in the Algarve, Hasselbaink said: “When Gio was at Arsenal we were quite close, and the families were close,” Hasselbaink said.

"We never spoke about management but he has the calmness, the aura of becoming a really good manager and he's showing it now.

"He knows what he wants, how he wants to play, and what it has to look like and it's a good fit, I think.”

Hasselbaink and van Bronckhorst both lead busy lives but the pair still keep in contact, if not regularly.

"We keep in touch here and there. It's difficult because he's busy with Rangers, he's flying back and forwards, here and there, to Rotterdam, I've got my football and television and some other stuff so it's not easy, but it's not as if we have to speak to each other every week or every month.

"He's a good lad, he gets on with his business and if our paths cross we hug, we talk, we laugh, and we move on."

Hasselbaink also expressed admiration for the job his former team-mate has done since taking the reins at Ibrox.

"He's done absolutely magnificently, hasn't he? Rangers fans obviously want to win the league and he wasn't able to do that but for them to reach the final of a European cup, and then lose on penalties is very bitter, very hard,” the former Chelsea and Leeds striker continued.

The 50-year-old also discussed the difference in style between van Bronckhorst’s team, and Steven Gerrard’s Light