BBC pundit makes Rangers and Celtic admission as Michael Beale loses first final in charge
Kenny Miller backs Rangers boss Michael Beale to close the gap on Celtic despite losing his first final in charge against their arch rivals.
He urges Beale to challenge for the Scottish League Cup and thinks that they can close the gap on the Hoops going into the business end of the season.
Currently, Celtic find themselves a staggering nine points clear of their 55-time SPFL champions.
Miller told BBC Radio Scotland: “The performances now are better than what they were pre-world cup. There are 12 league games Michael has had and he’s won 11 and drawn one, it’s really strong, incredible.
“All the doom and gloom and criticism is coming because they lost the cup final and unfortunately that can happen.
“You want to win the cup at the end of the day and the fact they never plus never performed to the levels everybody knows they can, that is where the disappointment comes in. But they need to dust themselves down as Michael has got more out of the players than there was previously.
“It’s not a bad thing to be winning games when you are not top of your game and it is still early in Michael’s reign, so there is going to be a lot more to come from this team. Their aim has to be to get this Scottish Cup.
“If they can close the gap on Celtic between now and the end of the season, that would be great. I think the two Old Firms are really big for Michael as it’s a chance to show Celtic aren’t that much better than Rangers and I am sure he believes that.”
Plenty to play for
Beale knows that the league could soon be a foregone conclusion unless Celtic miraculously go on a slump and that’s unlikely to happen.
They’ve started the season well whereas Rangers under Giovanni van Bronckhorst did not and Beale should not be the one blamed for it.
He’s picked up as many points as Celtic has in the league since his joining and the only negative is that he lost to them in the Viaplay Cup final.
However, there is another cup to fight for and there are going to be bragging rights in the league when they face off again.
The closer Rangers finish to Celtic, the more they’ll have confidence in getting the job done next season and Beale can then ask the board for additional funds to bridge the gap.
It’s important he keeps the side focused this season and there are plenty of games left and there are many who’ve still got to prove a point.
In other Rangers news, a pundit with insider information at Ibrox has shared one condition that will make Douglas Park leave the club.