Just over a year ago, Giovanni van Bronckhorst wanted to become Newcastle United manager. Now he has been sacked by Rangers.
The 47-year-old has been relieved of his duties at Ibrox, with the blue side of Glasgow falling behind in the Scottish title race.
There have been 15 league games played north of the border, and Rangers are already nine points behind leaders and rivals Celtic.
On top of that, they slumped out of the Champions League by losing all six of their group games.
It has been a miserable start to the season for Rangers, and the board have now acted by sacking Van Bronckhorst.
The Dutchman had only been in charge for a year, but what a year it was. In terms of the Scottish Premiership, things did not go to plan. They were leading the title race at the start of 2022, but ended up coming second behind Celtic. And it looks like that will happen again this season.
It was a different story in the cups though, with Van Bronckhorst taking Rangers to the final of the Europa League. That was a remarkable achievement, and they nearly won the entire competition. However, they lost on penalties in the final to Frankfurt.
The former Arsenal and Barcelona player went one better in the Scottish Cup, beating Hearts in the final to win that trophy for the first time since 2009.
It has been a rollercoaster year for Van Bronckhorst in Glasgow, but it has ended in heartache. However, it could have been a very different story for the Feyenoord legend.
Van Bronckhorst wanted to be Newcastle manager
It was just over a year ago that Newcastle were looking for a new manager. The takeover had just happened, and Amanda Staveley and co’s first major decision saw Steve Bruce lose his job.
There were plenty of candidates in the race to replace him, one of which was Van Bronckhorst. According to the Chronicle, he expressed his interest in becoming Toon boss.
However, Newcastle looked elsewhere, bringing in Eddie Howe. And what a decision it has been. The 44-year-old has transformed the club, with Newcastle currently third in the Premier League.
Would Van Bronckhorst have been able to do that? It’s highly unlikely.
But that wasn’t the only time he expressed an interest in a job at St James’ Park. He had the same stance in 2019 when Rafael Benitez left the club.
According to Sky Sports, he told Newcastle he wanted to be Benitez’s replacement. But again he would miss out, with Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley instead putting their eggs in the Bruce basket…
Van Bronckhorst wanted the Newcastle job in 2019 and 2021, and was snubbed on both occasions. Now his Rangers tenure has ended in disappointment, suggesting the Magpies made the right call in looking elsewhere.