It is safe to say that Michael Beale has created a lot of controversy ever since being appointed the Rangers manager. Of course, Celtic fans were not too impressed with his comments about Ange Postecoglou being a ‘lucky man’. And recently, the Ibrox boss also appeared to slam former Hoops star and current pundit, Chris Sutton.
Of course, Sutton was brilliant during his time at Parkhead as a player and has continued to bat for his former club, now that he is in the media. As a result, he has remained a very popular figure amongst the Celtic fans.
Sutton has never been one to mix his words either and we all knew that he was going to reply to Beale’s comments. And now, he has come back in style.
As reported by Glasgow Times, Sutton said while appearing on BT Sport’s Scottish Football Extra:
"“He’s so thin-skinned, isn’t he? What have I said which was wrong?“All I did was, on BBC radio, I asked Mark Chapman if he’d have done the same against Celtic. Mick got personal. He started talking about my playing career.“I can’t possibly comment on his playing career for obvious reasons. He started talking about comedy acts… the way he left QPR under a cloud was a comedy act. I’d go as far as to say that I’m more popular in West London than Mick Beale is.”"
Celtic hero gives sensational reply to Beale’s comments
Of course, that is in reference to Beale’s run as the manager of QPR. He spent less than six months there before making the jump to Ibrox, when the opportunity to manage the Rangers came up after Giovanni van Bronckhorst was shown the exit door.
It is worth pointing out that QPR had been on a bad run of form in the weeks leading up to Beale’s exit. Now, to be fair, the Rangers have done much better since his arrival and are getting positive results, something that they were not doing in Van Bronckhorst’s last few months as the manager of the club.
At the same time though, it is way too early to declare Beale as a success as Rangers manager. Van Bronckhorst had made a great start at Ibrox as well, and had a much better coaching resume. But we all know how things turned out for the Dutchman.