Ex-Rangers boss Gio van Bronckhorst's career as a manager will be OVER if he takes job at Liverpool, says pundit
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GIOVANNI VAN BRONCKHORST is closing in on a surprise return to the dugout in the Premier league - but not as manager.
The ex- Rangers boss and player has been working in the media as a pundit on various outlets since he was sacked by Besiktas in November.
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Van Bronckhorst is set to return to coaching
Credit: Getty
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Arne Slot wants to link up with him at Liverpool
Credit: Reuters
But the Dutchman is poised to make his coaching comeback this summer as he's set to become Arne Slot's assistant manager at Liverpool.
Van Bronckhorst, 50, is expected to take over from John Heitanga in the role after he left to become the new manager of Ajax.
Slot is preparing to reshuffle his coaching staff ahead of their Premier League title defence next season and Van Bronckhorst is understood to be his number one pick for the job.
Van Bronckhorst has managed Feyenood, Guangzhou R&F, Rangers and most recently Besiktas in his career as a gaffer to date.
But former Dutch footballer Hans Kraay Jr believes Van Bronckhorst will NEVER manager another club if he agrees to join Slot at Anfield.
The former NAC Breda and Brighton & Hove Albion defender, now 65, reckons his fellow countryman won't ever want to return to the hectic schedule of a gaffer once he experiences the less stressful role of a coach.
Discussing the 50-year-old's career in the dugout to date in his latest column for Voetbal International, he wrote: "At Feyenoord, apart from his first period, when he needed Dick Advocaat to keep himself in the saddle, he revealed that he quite enjoyed being a head coach.
"In any case, if you are at a club that often wins, it is a much more enjoyable job than being a coach at RKC or Almere.
"But in Feyenoord's championship year, with all the stress that comes with being a coach, he was quite relaxed, open and jovial towards us.
"The championship helped a lot, of course. After that, Van Bronckhorst spread his wings and left for Rangers. After a good start, it became quite stressful there.
Arne Slot shows his class as he leads Anfield in chant about Jurgen Klopp after sealing 20th title for Liverpool
"It was the same story at Beşiktaş. He won the Super Cup before the season, but was then hounded by the critical Turkish press.
"I think this assistantship to Arne Slot means the end of his career as head coach, and also of the life in which you spend 168 hours a week on football."
Kraay then provided an insight into role he believes Van Bronckhorst will have under Slot.
He added: "Gio is absolutely not a field coach, he always left that to Jean-Paul van Gastel at Feyenoord. And Arne Slot has the best field coach in the western hemisphere at his side - Sipke Hulshoff."
Hulsoff worked with Slot at Feyenoord and joined the manager at Anfield last year.
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