Michael Beale could be under pressure at Rangers very soon – Neil Lennon
Neil Lennon has suggested that Michael Beale could feel the pressure at Rangers very soon unless he gets his Ibrox tenure off to the perfect start.
The Gers’ new era under the 42-year-old is set to get underway on Thursday (15 December) against Hibernian, with the Light Blues looking to close the gap on Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Lennon believes Beale will need to win every single match between now and when his side welcome Celtic to Ibrox on 2 January.
“Rangers have been a mixed bag this season so it will be interesting to see how Michael gets on,” said Lennon (The Times, 14 December).
“He’s clearly a good coach but being a good coach and being a good manager are two totally different things. If he doesn’t get off to a good start he’ll soon feel that hot breath on his neck and we’ll see if he can handle that.
“Effectively, he needs to win all his games up until they play Celtic on January 2 and then, if he’s going to make an impact, he really needs to win that and probably the two remaining ones as well. That’ll be difficult because Celtic have been rampant. I can’t see them doing what we did.”
Comes with the job
Being Rangers’ manager is not for the faint-hearted and the former QPR boss would’ve been completely aware of the role he was walking into. If the Gers wish to harbour any hopes of challenging for the Scottish Premiership in the 2022/23 season then they simply have to win every single game before The Hoops make the trip across Glasgow.
However, if they continue their poor form, there will be an understanding amongst fans and the decision-makers at the club that a longer-term project is very much in place. There are clear issues with this group of players and it’s unlikely Beale will be able to make those problems disappear overnight.
There’s a good chance he will get a positive reaction, but if he doesn’t, there has to be an understanding that Rangers’ deficiencies run a lot deeper than just the manager.
Celtic are certainly there to be chased down and a positive result at the start of January could kickstart an unlikely title challenge. Stranger things have happened.
In other Rangers news, an out-of-court agreement could be reached for the Gers as documents have been submitted.