KONTERMAN FROZEN OUT OF DUTCH PLANS
The former Feyenoord ace, who won 13 caps under former Holland boss Frank Rijkaard and played at Euro 2000, has been told by van Gaal that he is unlikely to get another chance under his stewardship.
The 30-year-old, who has enjoyed a difficult first season at Ibrox, is taking a philosophical attitude to the manager's decision and he has not given up all hope of playing for his country again.
"It's going to be tough to get back into the international team," Konterman told the Rangers News.
"I've had a beautiful Holland career and the highlight was playing in the European Championships.
"But I am 30 now and I can imagine the manager is going another way.
"Louis called me up before the friendly with Spain before Christmas. He explained what has happened and what is in his mind.
"He felt it was not right to select me and I haven't had any more contact with him.
"A lot of players with Dutch teams have been in the squads and it's certainly easier to watch games in Holland than to fly to Scotland to watch me.
"Back home there are not a lot of Scottish games on television and that could be a reason why I've been left out.
"But to be honest, I don't know what the real reasons are. Fernando Ricksen has been ditched too and I'm sure he is unhappy."
"It's very disappointing not to be involved but if you asked me five years ago if I thought I would have played for my country, I'd have said no.
"It is always a great honour to be capped but if it doesn't happen again I will make sure I focus totally on Rangers.
"However, you never know. Maybe if the results don't go too well van Gaal will choose older and more experienced players."
Meanwhile, Konterman's Gers team-mate Fernando Ricksen has slammed referee Hugh Dallas for sending him off against Celtic at Parkhead last February, which could land the controversial defender in further hotwaterr with the Scottish Football Association.
The temperamental Dutchman, who has just served a five-match ban, believes that Dallas should not have dismissed him for two bookable offences considering the importance of the game.
Ricksen also had enjoyed a difficult start to his career in Scotland and he has especially suffered in the the Old Firm games against Celtic.
"The Old Firm games are special and I have to learn from the bad things that happened to me," said Ricksen. The circumstances in the first match were not right because I didn't know what to expect at all.
"Celtic scored three goals in the first 15 minutes and it was all over. Whether it was my fault or not, we were so far behind after quarter of an hour that we all had to take responsibility.
"In the second game I don't think it was a red card. We realised it was our last chance in the league and we had to give our all.
"A good referee will see that from the way the game is played.
"For the first yellow card I definitely caught Bobby Petta with a late challenge.
"However, there was nothing in the second one for the tackle on Tom Boyd but despite that I was booked straight away.
"A good ref would have seen that nothing happened and let the game go on but that was my luck in that match.
"Celtic have done well and have had a good season. They probably don't have as good a squad as us but seem to cope better as a unit.
"Henrik Larsson is having the time of his life and I have never seen anything like that from a player."
The former AZ Alkamaar feels that his enforced lay-off has benefited him and helped him settle in at Ibrox.
"It's been too bad for me that I couldn't play for five games but it gave me the chance to lay things down and see where I was going wrong," said Ricksen.
"I was just living for the next match because we were playing Wednesday then Saturday for so many weeks.
"There was no time to settle down and get things right. I continued through the matches without thinking about where the problems were, what I was doing right and where I could do more.
"When you are not playing you have a chance to look at things you otherwise wouldn't see.
"I realise now I should have eased myself in but instead I forced myself to try to settle straight away."
