talkSPORT host Simon Jordan gives Micheal Beale ‘Harry Potter’ opinion amid Rangers sack ‘pressure’
talkSPORT host Simon Jordan told Rangers’ hierarchy Michael Beale is not “Harry Potter with his wands” but concedes he should be feeling the “pressure” at Ibrox.
Gers boss Beale rounded out a miserable week with a 1-0 Old Firm derby defeat to Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday (3 September), having seen his side crash out of the Champions League play-off round in a 5-1 battering at PSV securing a 7-3 aggregate defeat.
Those setbacks have left Beale under huge pressure at Ibrox, particularly given the huge summer rebuild that saw nine new faces arrive.
Jordan said he is not sure Beale should face the sack just yet but must acknowledge the “ramifications” that come with such a tumultuous week.
“What is it precisely you expect him to do? And Celtic bring back a guy in Brendan Rodgers who created significant input into Celtic, winning virtually everything, and then went to the Premier League and won the FA Cup with Leicester City,” he said live on talkSPORT (4 September, 12:41pm).
“Who do you think he is? Harry Potter with his wands? He doesn’t have better players or the managerial experience. It has to be a project otherwise what was the point in bringing Beale in? He was always going to be learning on the job because he’s not an established manager. You push the envelope.”
He added: “He took the job on the basis of understanding that and clearly and he must have understood that because he’s been there previously. Steven Gerrard was given a period of time but he’s not Steven Gerrard and doesn’t have the perceived cache as Steven Gerrard. The project of Rangers was at a different stage then.
“We’re now in a situation where the guy is feeling some pressure. That goes with the territory. Should he be sacked?
“He hasn’t been there for a significant period of time but he’s been there for the best part of a year now. It’s not like he’s been there for five minutes. I’m not suggesting he should be given the boot but he should be feeling the ramifications that they’ve just been jettisoned from the Champions League – sent out of it with the tail between their legs – and getting beat by their major rival which is always the litmus test.”
Feeling the heat
Simon Jordan has previously been critical of Michael Beale for the manner of his exit from Queens Park Rangers to Ibrox, but his assessment of the current situation at the Glasgow giants is entirely fair.
Rangers do need to ascertain what the current expectation level is, because the truth is that the past two seasons they have been overshadowed by their fierce Old Firm rivals.
What will concern Gers fans the most is that Beale was heavily backed during the recent transfer window, with so many new faces arriving in a dramatic overhaul of the squad.
If the board were to wield the axe then would the new manager want to play the players who Beale has signed? If he doesn’t you could end up needing to do more restructuring over the 12 months and risk losing more ground.
It is not an ideal scenario to be in. Beale likely will get some more time to turn it around but it certainly have not been the start to the season anyone was expecting at Ibrox.
In other Rangers news, the club are planning to contacting the SFA over Kemar Roofe’s disallowed goal in the derby.