Happy and glorious- Keith Jackson’s incredible defence of 0-11 van Bronckhorst

Despite going down to a 3-0 defeat to Napoli it seems that Giovanni van Bronckhorst salvaged his reputation at Ibrox last night.

Leading his side to a 0-11 aggregate over three matches is normally dismissal material but Keith Jackson is leading the defence of the Dutchman who is five points behind domestically and six behind in the Champions League.

The Dortmund card is looking very weathered and battered but is alive an well in the eyes of the veteran Daily Record reporter:

There’s a world of difference between a savage beating and an unspeakably cruel one. Unfortunately for Rangers, they’ve now experienced it all inside a fortnight.

After the spineless capitulations that brought their manager to a point of crisis, last night they produced a performance of heroic proportions – only to end up bloodied and bruised all over again. Where they had been pitiful against Celtic and Ajax, here they were at their most powerful.

Where they had lacked stomach for the fight, this time they were ravenous. And even when reduced to 10 men against the giants of Napoli, they mustered up something bordering on the astonishing as returning keeper Allan McGregor stopped two penalties before finally being beaten by a third in quick succession. Two late goals rubbed salt into the wounds, adding to the stinging sense of injustice. Of course, it won’t matter much in terms of this group campaign. With no points from a possible six, Rangers are already in need of snookers.

But in the greater scheme of things this was a night of redemption, nonetheless, for a team and their manager.

Napoli were the third seeds in the Champions League draw, behind Ajax and Liverpool.