Rangers fires Van Bronckhorst after run of poor results

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Scottish club Rangers fired manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst on Monday after a year in charge, saying the team's recent run of form has “not met expectations.”

The Dutch coach, who is a former Rangers player, was appointed as 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 in charge.

However, he has paid the price for a poor start to the current season in which Rangers lost every game in the Champions League group stage and fell nine points adrift of city rival Celtic at the top of the Scottish league.

“The board would like to put on record sincere thanks to Gio for all his efforts since his appointment as manager.

“Unfortunately, results and performances over recent months haven’t met expectations and the decision was made today by the board to terminate the contract of the manager," Rangers said in a statement. "The search for the new manager is now underway.”

Rangers has just over three weeks to find a successor for Van Bronckhorst, with the team's first match after the World Cup break at home against Hibernian on Dec. 15.

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