Barry Ferguson believes ‘the clock is ticking’ for Rangers new signings and Michael Beale
Barry Ferguson has said that following Rangers defeat to Celtic, “the clock is ticking” for both Michael Bale and his new signings to show more quality, after a poor start to the season.
The Light Blues were well beaten at Ibrox by Brendan Rodgers’ side on Sunday (3 September) in the same week they’d been knocked out of the Champions League by PSV and the former Gers captain has been critical of what he’s seen this season.
Beale has already failed three times in the eyes of Ferguson this season, losing on the opening day to Kilmarnock alongside the defeats to PSV and Celtic and he believes that both the manager and his new signings need to prove they’re worth their place at Ibrox.
Writing for the Daily Record on Tuesday (5 September), he said: “Beale will have to take the brunt of it because, as things stand, his big rebuild is beginning to look like a downgrade on what was there before. It’s still way too early to say his time is up. But be in no doubt, the clock is ticking towards a day of reckoning.
“I’m looking at guys like Danilo, Sam Lammers, Abdullah Sima and Cyriel Dessers and asking for a whole lot more than they have brought to the table so far. That doesn’t reflect well on Michael as he identified these guys and pushed the boat out to bring them in.”
Need change
Rangers haven’t been completely reactionary as Beale has kept his job at Ibrox and that is probably a sensible decision as, despite the poor start to the campaign, too much has been invested in his tenure being a success to just throw it away.
His signings, barring Jack Butland, have failed to make any sort of impact this season and that is worrying when they were his targets and Beale was backed heavily to sign players that so far don’t look up to the standard.
Maybe that was excusable on the opening day against Kilmarnock, but four weeks into the campaign and with the two biggest games of the season back-to-back, these players needed to show some level of quality to show that they’re not duds.
The job couldn’t be more simple for Beale now however, don’t drop any more points after the international break and win the League Cup. If he manages to get some silverware under his belt, he will keep his head above water, but the second they’re knocked out, fans will be rightly calling for his resignation.
Somehow, he needs to get this side ticking and his new signings playing in a manner that warrants their price tag, otherwise his and likely some of their time at Rangers will be ending much more abruptly than we all expected.
In other Rangers news, Alfredo Morelos has sent a late goodbye message to the Light Blues’ fans