'Massive rebuild for next Rangers manager'

It's been so good, but yet it's been so bad.

We're only in November and we've seen a calamitous Champions League campaign, with Rangers trailing Celtic by nine points in the title push. It's almost as if there was a malaise setting in at Ibrox.

Yet, timing is everything, and right now a potential new Rangers manager has a bit of that.

With the World Cup now in full swing, they would have a chance to assess what state the squad is in, what can be improved on the training ground, and more importantly, what work can be done in the January window.

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It really does depend where the board now wants to go, but make no mistake, this isn't the same job Van Bronckhorst faced a year ago where he had to get a tune out of a team who had previously won the league. This is a massive rebuild.

It's going to be two of the most important transfer windows coming up for the club that they've had in recent years. They have to learn their lessons from the last window and get it right.

Recruitment is possibly the biggest issue facing whoever comes in. Players have been there for a long time who were once assets but are now drifting towards the end of their contracts. Kamara, Kent, Morelos. Are they still worth what was suggested even a year ago?

Any team is going to miss the quality of Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey, and I don't think the fans expected replacements to immediately hit the same levels. However, the recruitment across the board wasn't good enough.

There's been a lot of names suggested to replace Gio, plenty of them of a high calibre. This is a call the Rangers board simply have to get right.

Michael Beale is an early front runner. He clearly knows the club well having been there as part of Steven Gerrard's backroom staff, and he's now gone out to become his own man at Queens Park Rangers. Beale knocked back the Wolves job, which shows you how highly regarded he is.

He took a lot to do with the tactics at Ibrox and what happened on the training ground. He would be a good and popular fit among supporters.

You then have Sean Dyche, while my old team-mate Kevin Muscat has been mentioned, who has done really well at Yokohama. He didn't suffer fools as a player, I can't imagine he's changed much. That was always something levelled at Gio that he wouldn't tear strips off people - that wouldn't be the case with Kevin.

'Champions League drained confidence with each passing defeat'

For all the feeling of impending doom enshrouding Van Bronckhorst, I do feel for him.

To reach the final of the Europa League was a sensational achievement, only to narrowly miss out. They then won the Scottish Cup, which brought a positivity about Rangers and the squad.

You then have qualification for the Champions League after 12 years, but if anything that turned into a hindrance.

The confidence drained from the players with each passing defeat, and that seeped into their domestic performances. There's good players there, and there needs to be a collective effort now to raise levels and hunt Celtic down.

I can't see that happening, regardless of who comes in. I believe this season Celtic will be too strong with a nine-point gap, and that's why these next two transfer windows are so crucial.

There's a lot of work to be done and that starts with the manager.

Steven Thompson was speaking to BBC Scotland's Scott Mullen