Michael Beale love-bombs Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou amid doubts over his Rangers – BBC’s Tom English
Rangers have little more than a puncher’s chance when Celtic visit Ibrox for the first Old Firm derby since Michael Beale took over, according to Tom English.
The Hoops hold a nine-point advantage at the top of the table, with both a superior goal-difference and recent league record in the fixture, and any hopes of preventing them a second straight title will likely be over without a home win on Monday (2 January).
Despite picking up all 12 points on offer since he took over, Beale’s side has run it close and not looked entirely fluent, and English believes the Gers boss is doing whatever he can to find a slight advantage against a superior side.
In his column for BBC Sport, English writes: “Most of the heat is on Rangers – and Beale knows it. Maybe that’s why he spent an inordinate amount of time love-bombing Celtic’s form under Ange Postecoglou in his press conference on Friday. Talk up the opponent, make yourself the underdog. It’s not exactly new-age mind games but he’s got to try something.
“A nine-point gap is a chasm when you’ve got doubts about where your own team is at, as Beale has, and when the team you’re attempting to pursue has won 18 of their 19 league games.”
While acknowledging the long list of injury problems that have held the Gers back, he went on: “Man for man, you’d pick Celtic all day long on Monday, but within Rangers there must be a feeling that there is no tomorrow in the league if they lose. That desperation can give a side an edge, a rage for victory that’s hard to handle.”
He summed up Celtic, saying: “They’re just a better side. It would be unwise to ignore the Ibrox factor, though. That and the aggression that Rangers will surely have with their backs now firmly against the wall.”
Catch up
On the whole it’s the harsh reality that over the past year the level of league performance on either side of Glasgow has not been the same.
In Europe Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Bears side far outpaced Postecoglou’s men, but the domestic balance of power has shifted towards Celtic Park.
That is a major reason why Beale is in the job in the first place so he will be under no illusions over the task at hand, as he seeks to redress that balance.
He hasn’t yet had the chance to change his squad with the transfer window only a day old, and these are the same players who Van Bronckhorst struggled with so of course there will be doubts.
Beale has injected a psychological boost if nothing else, as shown by recording wins from losing positions, but the performances have still been sloppy and could be punished in the derby without a big improvement.
Get a result in his first meeting with Celtic and it will be clear that the new man is already building something, but fail to do so and it will be plain to see how big a job he has on his hands.
In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton branded Ally McCoist “embarrassing” over one Light Blues player.