Already feeling the heat- Keith Jackson’s ominous warning to Van Bronckhorst

Keith Jackson has warned Giovanni van Bronckhorst that his team selection and tactics on Wednesday night are already open to question. 

Since the turn of the year the Dutchman has placed his faith in attack on Cedric Itten after cutting short his season long loan to German side Greuther Furth. 

The Swiss internationalist scored against Stirling Albion in the Scottish Cup but it has been thin pickings since then with four points shipped on the road with unconvincing displays all over the park. 

Amad Diallo got the full wonder boy treatment when he signed on Thursday but the £37m starlet was unable to inspire his new club to a win over Ross County. 

The cameo appearances of John Lundstram- believed to be the highest paid player in Scotland- add little to the team with the former Sheffield United man doing little to justify his place. 

After a 100% domestic record through December van Bronckhorst knows that losing to Celtic on Wednesday would oust his side from top position and unleash fierce criticism of the Dutchman and his methods. 

Spelling out the main issues in the Daily Record, Keith Jackson writes: 

That Diallo was thrown straight into the starting XI in the Highlands despite only just walking through the doors at Auchenhowie, suggests van Bronckhorst is still desperately searching for something he has not yet found inside the building. 

Cedric Itten being promoted to the role of first-choice understudy to Alfredo Morelos – despite being deemed surplus to requirements by the previous manager – has caused the waters to be even more muddied, especially given that the limitations of the Swiss striker remain every bit as obvious as they did before he was recalled from what was supposed to be a season long loan deal in Germany. 

If Van Bronckhorst opts to hang his hat on Itten again on Wednesday night, rather than place his trust in Kemar Roofe or Fashion Sakala, he’ll be taking the kind of leap of faith that tends to result in serious questions being asked about the integrity of a manager’s own judgment. 

And given he’s already feeling some heat for making curiously negative changes from the sidelines, Van Bronckhorst can do without pouring more fuel on the fire. 

When the manager replaced Scott Arfield with John Lundstram on Saturday in Dingwall, after his side had stormed back from 2-1 down to claim a 3-2 second half lead, Van Bronckhorst was unintentionally sending out entirely the wrong message. 

It seems that very little of the Nathan Patterson windfall will be reinvested in the Ibrox squad. 

Steven Gerrard whinged about the lack of spending before his rapid exit to Aston Villa, if things go wrong this week van Bronckhorst will quickly discover the issues that created the vacancy for his return to management after a year out of football.