GIOVANNI VAN BRONCKHORST’s future in Turkey looked rather bleak at one stage tonight.
That’s before his huge second half tweak proved to be decisive in Besiktas’ Europa League clash with Malmo.
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Ex-Rangers boss Van Bronckhorst, 49, had seemingly lost all faith in the Besiktas dugout when the match in Istanbul was tied at 0-0 with just twenty minutes to go.
The club’s wild fan base made their feelings clear on social media, with countless supporters taking to X to vent their frustration over the manager’s tactics and lack of style of play.
Many had began to let rip at Van Bronckhorst despite the game still being there for the taking, with hundreds demanding for the manager’s RESIGNATION after the game.
Frustrations have boiled over in recent weeks following the club’s poor start to their campaign both domestically and in Europe.
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The Istanbul side currently sit in fourth place in the Turkish Super Lig and nine points behind leaders and rivals Galatasaray.
They also lost their opening two Europa League clashes – slumping to a 4-0 defeat to Ajax and losing 3-1 against Eintracht Frankfurt.
However, it looked from the outside that pressure had began to ease on the under-fire boss when his team stunned Lyon in France with a late goal to pick up their first three points in Europe.
But given fans’ reaction this evening, it was clear he needed to do more to win over supporters.
Besiktas were without star striker Ciro Immobile against Malmo though injury and his absence was noticeable in the struggling front-line in the first half.
And fans were crying out for a major change to the team in the second period.
Van Bronckhorst didn’t look to his bench until the 72nd minute though, leaving supporters furious.
Taking to social media moments before the substitutions, one punter even told Van Bronckhorst he would be “finished” if he didn’t make a change.
The fuming fan wrote: “Make a change now or you are finished Van Bronckhorst.”
Someone else said: “Giovanni Van Bronckhorst is waiting for a goal to make a substitution. He is just watching like us. He has zero impact on the game.”
Another wrote: “Someone tell this Giovanni van Bronckhorst that intervening in the game before the 65th minute is not a crime.
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While a fourth accused him of having no game plan, writing: “You have been watching the match for 70 minutes, no intervention. No game plan.”
But they finally got their wish as Van Bronckhorst opted to switch his midfield around with two key subs and within minutes they found their lead.
The hosts opened the scoring on the 76th minute, before adding a second nine minutes later to seal the win.
And although a large section of the support were unimpressed with the timing of the changes, many admitted at full-time that it was worth the wait.
One delighted fan said: “Beşiktaş won today with the moves made by Van Bronckhorst.”
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Another confessed: “Have to admit those subs from Van Bronckhorst won us the game.”
While a third added: “You are forgiven Gio van Bronckhorst.”
Although they ended up winning the tie, Malmo did claw one make to make it 2-1 in stoppage time.
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But to Van Bronckhorst’s delight, the game was already wrapped up by then.
And it turned out to be a milestone victory for the Dutchman as the two results against Lyon and the Swedish champions were his first back-to-back wins in the Europa League as manager.
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