Andy Walker reacts as Michael Beale aims ‘wee dig’ at Celtic ahead of first Rangers SPFL match
Andy Walker has urged Rangers boss Michael Beale to show some respect to Celtic after he called them “the other team”.
The Bears resume their league journey under a new manager after the World Cup break on Thursday (15 December) against Hibernian, and they will be looking to cut down the gap with Celtic to six points.
Beale stated that the Gers can overtake the league leaders if “the other team” started dropping points, as he stopped short of name-checking Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Walker was far from impressed with Beale’s attitude, suggesting that despite the rivalry between the two clubs and the fact that from time to time you get to see a “wee dig” from one another, there is always a healthy respect among the players and the managers.
“In my time there is a general level of respect between the players. From time to time you get a wee dig at the other, and I think it adds a wee bit of spice. I don’t think anything has got out of control,” said Walker on Go Radio Football Show (14 December).
“There is always a little gentle dig. I think when you say the behaviour of Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Ange Postecoglou (there was) total respect for one another.
“I remember back to Billy McNeill being respectful to all managers, and I can remember him having a right good ding-dong with Graeme Souness after the first Old Firm game i played in. The two of them were going at it outside the dressing rooms, but I think you would expect that.
“There was a bit of trash talking going on after the game. When you have a microphone in front of you tend to be a bit more respectful of what, in essence, is your greatest rivals.”
New start
It’s a fresh new start at Ibrox, and it will be interesting to see whether the appointment of Beale has been a masterstroke or a gamble.
Beale replaced Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Rangers after the club went through a poor run of form this season.
Not only are they poor in the league, trailing Celtic by nine points, but they were also abysmal in the Champions League, losing all of their six games.
It was time for a change as it appeared that the club stopped progressing after nearly winning the Europa League last season.
Beale’s appointment is largely seen as a gamble due to his relative lack of experience in management. However, he did a terrific job as an assistant manager at Ibrox under Steven Gerrard and the club have kept faith in him.
His first task will be to pick up wins in the league and get the place buzzing once again. At the moment, they must forget about the league table and simply focus on winning every game.
In other Rangers news, an out-of-court agreement could be reached for the Gers as documents have been submitted.