Rangers news as Champions League qualifier with Servette now ‘Gargantuan’
Rangers boss Michael Beale now faces a “gargantuan” game against Servette, with Champions League qualification crucial to the club financially, as well as his support among fans, according to John McGarry.
The Scottish Daily Mail journalist made the claim in the newspaper’s print edition [8 August, pg 67], stating that the level of spending Rangers have done this summer comes with a level of expectation they will be expected to match.
Beale has been given the unequivocal support of the club’s hierarchy in the transfer market, but following an opening day loss to Kilmarnock, the pressure has ramped up on the club’s Champions League qualifier, as he is told to brace.
He wrote: “Tomorrow night’s Champions League qualifier against Servette was already a huge game but it now feels gargantuan – not just in terms of finance for the club, but for Beale’s standing among the support.”
Time to get things moving
As unfair as it may be to judge a team’s season off the back of the opening game of the season, Beale brings the expectation upon himself. His comments about Ange Postecoglou’s financial “luck” at Celtic could now backfire.
With the money Rangers have spent on bringing nine new recruits to the club, four of which have been forwards, it is fair to expect that they should be able to win the games against most teams in the division who lack that financial power.
Time should be allowed for this group to settle, after all, it is a change of scenery and style for the majority of them, but if too much time is taken to adapt they could find themselves in the all-too-familiar position of falling behind a relentless Celtic side in the title race.
The game against Kilmarnock was one they should certainly have won on paper, but ultimately couldn’t on Killy’s plastic pitch. They will need to put things right against a Servette side who have already tasted victory after knocking Genk in the previous playoff round.
In other Rangers news, another Rangers ace has announced his exit with a ‘heavy heart’.