Not too long ago, Michael Beale was considered by the Rangers fans as the man to stop Celtic. He was already given credit for being the mastermind behind their previous Premiership triumph, when he was the assistant manager to Steven Gerrard. And this time around, he had taken the Ibrox hot seat himself, to compete against Ange Postecoglou’s team.
Beale had made a bright start to life at Ibrox as well and went toe-to-toe with Celtic for weeks, results-wise. But that run came to an end at the weekend, as they were defeated by the Hoops in the final of the Scottish League Cup.
That was a blow to the hopes of many Rangers fans, as they questioned the line up that Beale had put out on the big day. And some of his recent comments do not seem to have gone down well with a part of the Ibrox support.
And as a result, it looks like doubts are starting to creep in amongst the Rangers fans about Beale, a man who could do no wrong just about a week ago.
Rangers fans turn on Beale after latest Celtic claim
As reported by Football Scotland, Beale said:
"“In general, if you look at any league in the world, the team that spends the most is first. So we have to compete against the odds because we’re not going to spend the most money. We’re not going to recruit the finished product. So there’s a lot of coaching, a little bit of patience and a lot of good work to go on.“It is going to be a significant summer. There are no quick fixes so the word ‘patience’ comes out again, the word that nobody in this city likes. But the reality is that over 90 days we’ve made steady progress, regardless if people say that we haven’t. I’m saying we have and that’s my opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own.”"
Further, the Rangers manager went on to add about the matter:
"“I’ve got quite a complex job here at Rangers as I’m going to need to change a squad with not huge finance.”"
Just a quick look at social media will tell you that not many Rangers fans were pleased about the recent comments from Beale. Some even went as far as to claim that they were only ‘excuses’ after losing a big final.
Whatever may be the case, the important thing is that things can change very quickly in football. And Beale should know that very well sitting in the Ibrox hot seat. Giovanni van Bronckhorst had led the club to Scottish Cup triumph and the final of the UEFA Europa League just months before he was shown the exit door.
Fortunately for Celtic, they have a manager in Postecoglou, who seems to be doing no wrong at the moment.