Rangers take on Feyenoord in the Europa League this evening.
Rangers take on Feyenoord tonight, and that means former Ibrox boss Dick Advocaat will take on his former club once again.
The Gers beat Feyenoord 1-0 in the first meeting between the two sides earlier this season, but Jaap Stam was in charge of the Rotterdam side for that game.
Stam stepped aside as Feyenoord boss last month, and they decided to bring in former Rangers boss Advocaat as an experienced head to lead the side until next summer.
Advocaat now faces Rangers tonight, having managed the Gers from 1998 to 2001, winning two league titles and two Scottish Cups in that time, as well as a Scottish League Cup.
Advocaat ended up breaking Rangers hearts in 2008, as he beat Rangers in the UEFA Cup final with Zenit St Petersburg, and he’ll be looking to do the same tonight.
Tonight’s game sees Advocaat – at 72 – take on a much younger manager in 39-year-old Steven Gerrard, but he has compared him to a former Rangers man.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst played under Advocaat at Rangers, becoming an Ibrox favourite before heading to Arsenal, and he ended up becoming a success as a manager with Feyenoord.
Advocaat has now suggested to the Scottish Daily Mail (28/11, p105) that Gerrard is somewhat comparable to Van Bronckhorst in terms of them being gamble appointments for their clubs at the time, but young managers can go and win trophies, backing Gerrard to be as successful as Van Bronckhorst was at De Kuip.
“Steven is only 39,” said Advocaat. “It’s a young age to be a manager but Feyenoord did the same with Gio van Bronckhorst and in three or four years’ time we had five prizes. It shows what is possible,” he added.
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