Lee Johnson tells Rangers you're 'not as good' as Celtic amid unflinching title verdict
Michael Beale has taken over in the Ibrox hotseat but Johnson says Van Bronckhorst's perhaps become a victim of his own success before his dismissal.
Lee Johnson believes Rangers were too quick to pull the trigger on Gio van Bronckhorst's Ibrox tenure - and he warns Michael Beale that Celtic are well clear of their city rivals.
Johnson is set to lead his Hibernian side as they go head to head in Beale's first competitive game in charge on Thursday evening. But the Easter Road boss admits he was shocked that Van Bronckhorst isn't going to be in the other dugout and reckons the Dutchman can leave with his head held high.
Van Bronckhorst guided the Light Blues to the Europa League Final last season, and also steered them to Scottish Cup glory. However, a disastrous Champions League group stage campaign coupled with falling nine points behind Celtic in the Premiership title race resulted in the Dutchman being dismissed on November 21. He was replaced Beale, who returns to the club after a spell as assistant under Steven Gerrard's tenure, and Johnson thinks you can't truly judge a manager until they've racked up around 200 games with a team.
He said: "I'm always an advocate of keeping managers in situ. Managers are often blamed for the results but normally there's a bigger picture.
"I understand the pressure falls on the manager. But 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 around. I feel at Rangers, maybe the expectation was so high and sometimes you can be a victim of your own success. I suppose we'll only know in a year or 18 months, depending on how the new regime does. Gio could walk away with his head held high and know he's done everything he could.
"The Champions League adventure didn't go as well as a club that size would've expected. But it doesn't mean it's a bad job."
Johnson has sympathy for Van Bronckhorst and reckons there's little chance his predecessor Beale can pull off a miracle and stop the hoops topping the table come May. Simply stating that Rangers aren't at their level.
"Celtic are a top side and, obviously, Rangers are chasing those guys. Looking at it from the outside, Rangers are just not as good - simple as that," Johnson added.
"I'm not there to judge. All I see is a good man who's worked his socks off and lost his job. But good luck to Bealo - after we've played them. I don't know him well. We've bumped into each other at courses and stuff like that.
"He has done well. He markets himself well and worked well with Steven Gerrard. He went to QPR where he's had a good start. But I'm always one who says: 'Show me a manager after 200 games. When he has been through everything.'
"The jury is out on anybody until 150-200 games and he's been through the ups and downs that come during that time."
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