Michael Beale obligated to win Premiership for Rangers amid ‘animosity’ – Hugh Keevins
Hugh Keevins believes that Michael Beale is now obligated to win the Premiership having taken over as manager of Rangers.
The former Queens Park Rangers boss took charge after Giovanni van Bronckhorst was sacked with the Light Blues nine points behind Old Firm rivals Celtic.
Rangers will return to action against Hibernian on 15 December with potentially a full complement of players as only Borna Barisic is still in the World Cup after the group stages.
“The AGM is about division and animosity off the park,” Keevins said to the Daily Record. “Dave King will vote against Park’s continuation as chairman and play on his own standing as the man of the people.
“None of which need concern the manager. Whoever runs the club will expect the same of him – success in the form of over-throwing Celtic. It was King, however, who said at the start of the season he would have “much rather” have won the league than got to Seville for the Europa League Final lost to Eintracht Frankfurt.
“Beale’s job definition is therefore clear. If it was his destiny to become Rangers manager then it is also his obligation to win the title. But even destiny comes with consequences.”
Tall order
For this to come true this season, Rangers almost can’t drop another point and especially not to the Hoops with such a deficit to overcome.
Ange Postecoglu’s side doesn’t look likely to lose or draw many games against the rest of the Premiership so any defeats will have to come from Beale’s boys.
It is far too much to demand the league title this season no matter how much the club can still hope until the mathematics become unreachable when it is only Beale’s second managerial job.
Next season will be a different story when everybody starts from zero but to overcome a nine-point deficit is a huge ask for any manager, let alone one in the early days of his career.
There is, understandably, a lot of optimism around Ibrox right now but there is no need to make things increasingly difficult for Beale in what is an already tough job with every eye in Scotland on him.
In other Rangers news, Kenny Miller anticipates this “forgotten” player to be revived under Beale after van Bronckhorst’s freeze out.