Rangers patience with Michael Beale will evaporate if they lose to Celtic on Sunday
Fans’ patience with Rangers boss Michael Beale will evaporate if the Ibrox side fail to secure a result against Celtic in the first Old Firm derby this season, according to Ewan McGregor of The Guardian.
The journalist insisted that attitudes at Rangers have changed drastically after their 5-1 defeat at the hands of PSV in midweek, with the pressure mounting on Beale.
A view was then shared that, while neither side would willingly admit it, they would both take a draw going into Sunday’s clash, as unsteady starts to the season loom over both managers.
Writing via his blog in The Guardian, McGregor shared: “The return of Brendan Rodgers had already been punctured by a feeble League Cup exit at Kilmarnock. The blue half of the city were licking their lips at the prospect of Rodgers bringing his team to Ibrox.
“The changing of attitudes came after midweek events in Eindhoven. The manner of PSV’s 5-1 humbling of Rangers left Michael Beale grasping to defend his ‘new team’. Both managers find themselves under intense scrutiny. Should Celtic prevail, patience for Beale from the stands will evaporate.”
The journalist then went on to claim: “Neither club would ever say it but a draw would suit them at this point. Any alternative outcome is going to place a manager in a scenario that is deeply unpleasant any time but especially in early September.”
Pressure starting to build up
Beale is now under plenty of pressure to get a result in the club’s biggest game so far this season. An opening-day defeat to Kilmarnock and a 5-1 battering by PSV have underlined a poor start to the season with the team looking inconsistent and shaky.
Having spent money freely throughout the summer transfer window, Beale has been backed endlessly by the Rangers board, and it is not up to him to prove to both the board and the fans that he is the man to lead this new group of players to success.
He is not the only one under pressure, with Celtic boss Rodgers also facing a similarly difficult job to impress the fans after failing to score in either of their last two games, with a visit to Ibrox now looming as they look to turn their form around.
Rangers will be hoping to deal a bitter blow and derail their rivals’ season while kickstarting their own, in what will already be billed as a must-win game for both sides in the context of their seasons.
In other Rangers news, Stephen McGowan delivered his own ‘poisonous’ Old Firm verdict.