GIOVANNI van Bronckhorst has given his first pre-match press conference and has promised changes ahead of tomorrow’s Europa League showdown with Sparta Prague.

Rangers need to beat the Czech side to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stages.

Derek Clark assesses what the Dutchman and Allan McGregor had to say to the media ahead of the game.

Van Bronckhorst on possible changes

"You will see a team tomorrow in a system I like to play and how I feel is best to play against Prague. You will definitely see some changes.

"I have a certain way of working and certain things I want from my players. I demand that we are playing as a team, both defending and attacking. We need to be prepared and the players know their tasks on the pitch.

"It is a very short time with the players but they can already sense what I want to change.

"The way we have to prepare physically and mentally, you cannot do everything in two days but step-by-step the players will learn the style of play.

"European nights are great at Ibrox with our support, we have to create an environment to play well and win the game."

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Van Bronckhorst’s promise of changes will excite the majority of the Rangers support given the car crash of a performance on Sunday and the general malaise that has engulfed the squad.

The players are in need of an injection of freshness and a different outlook on things and that’s exactly what van Bronckhorst and his coaching staff will bring.

Just what those changes will entail, who knows? But it’s clear he understands improvements have to be made. Given the short timescale that he has to impose his ideas before the game, it would be mightily impressive if we were to witness a vastly improved display both in terms of performance and general attitude on Thursday evening.

Van Bronckhorst on defensive issues

“We weren’t happy with the result or the goals we conceded on Sunday. So we have to make sure we are defensively much more focused and compact.

“For me, the defending part of the game is for everyone. We trained tactically the last two days to make sure we are well prepared for Sparta Prague.

“The first thing you want to do, not only in Europe but in every game, is to be defensively solid, to keep the zero and try to win the game by scoring goals.

“That’s the main objective [on Thursday], to defend really well and make sure we keep the zero.

“We are preparing the boys well for [the game] Of course, you also take notice of the last game.

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“Some things I saw which I thought we need to improve, all in mind to be better prepared for tomorrow.

“That’s always the case for me. If we can improve things, and obviously we have to, then I will take that into account.

“So it’s a little bit of both - looking a little bit back and to the next game in which areas we need to improve and how.

"We have to prepare ourselves tactically for when we have the ball and when we want to win the ball back.”

Everyone could see just how defensively fragile Rangers were on Sunday, the Light Blues shipped three first half goals and could’ve conceded more.

Given van Bronckhorst is generally a conservative coach you would imagine this would be one of his first, if not the first priority he’s looking to address.

Quite simply Rangers are leaking goals like a sieve and failure to put it right tomorrow night will see them on the receiving end of another defeat.

If he can somehow manage to arrest the mistakes and calamities at the back then Rangers will have a chance tomorrow.

Sampling the Ibrox atmosphere and Euro memories

"I can't wait to feel the atmosphere again in the stadium but I am able to separate my emotions from the job required once the whistle goes and be fully focused on my task of victory.

"The Parma game we had against top international stars was one of the best nights I had with Rangers. I had plenty of good memories with Rangers in Europe.

"For me the most important thing is to look forward, to work hard and I demand this from day one.

"Everyone has been really good so far, we want to become a better team in the coming weeks and months."

Of course, it’s going to be an emotional evening for van Bronckhorst as he returns to Ibrox and leads the team out for the first team as manager. It’s great to hear him talk about European nights he was part of such as that famous Parma victory. It’s part of the reason why he would’ve wanted to return to Govan to sample those types of nights again and tomorrow can be the start of that.

You really get a sense that he is thrilled to be back at the club where he shone as a player and you’d imagine that hunger and desire to succeed can only rub off on the players. As he states, we may not see a dramatic change against Sparta Prague but in the coming weeks and months, it will be intriguing to see how a Giovanni van Bronckhorst Rangers side shape up.

Allan McGregor on Connor Goldson’s comments

“As you probably well know I don’t read papers or listen to things so I’ve not heard what he’s said.

“I thought this was about Thursday, this press conference. That didn’t happen, it’s nothing to do with tomorrow I think.”

As much as McGregor is generally great value when conducting interviews, he went full-blown Arsene Wenger with this response.

You can bet he is aware of Goldson’s comments and you can also bet it has been addressed behind closed doors.

You can understand why he wants to concentrate on the game ahead and his response suggests he doesn’t want a side story developing that may prove to be a distraction to the task at hand.