Celtic find themselves sitting nine points clear at the top of the Premiership table. Of course, that has not gone down well at Ibrox. In fact, the Rangers have shown Giovanni van Bronckhorst the exit door in the middle of the World Cup break and are in search of their next manager, with Michael Beale looking like the frontrunner to get the job.
Beale was a part of Steven Gerrard’s coaching staff at the Rangers. Many even believed him to be the tactical mastermind behind their Premiership triumph a few years back. Since then, he has become a manager himself and currently finds himself in the QPR hot seat.
There have been suggestions that Beale turned down the chance to manage Wolves a little over a month back. But QPR are not expected to stand in his way if he wants to complete a return to Ibrox.
Some of Beale’s recent comments have not gone down well with a lot of people. He believes that the Rangers would have won the league last season if Gerrard had stayed put and Celtic would not have gone past them. As reported by Football Scotland, Peter Grant said on the Go Radio Football Show about the matter:
"“I thought some of the comments he made at the time were really strange, about Steven Gerrard. That they would have won the league if they were still there.“They have to remember that they only won the league because there was no supporters. It’s easier to play without any fans.”"
Beale has been slammed over controversial Celtic comments
It remains to be seen if Beale is appointed as the new manager of the Rangers or not. At the moment it is looking likely.
QPR had made a decent start to the season under his management in the Championship but have slipped quite a bit in recent times, losing four of their past five games. One also has to question Beale’s lack of experience, especially when it comes to managing in Glasgow.
For Celtic, his past comments should work as extra motivation, if Beale does indeed end up being appointed as Rangers boss.