Chris Jack delivers ‘no use’ verdict as Michael Beale pressure grows at Rangers
Chris Jack has insisted that the most damning indictment of Michael Beale’s Ibrox career is his record against Celtic – stating that if a Rangers manager cannot beat Celtic, they are no use.
The Glasgow Times journalist claimed, under Beale, Rangers look like a team of individuals rather than a side that are working together, with players called out for making the same old mistakes.
As shown before at Ibrox, even as recently as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s spell, a defeat to Celtic can spell the beginning of the end for a Rangers manager, with often no way back from the disappointment.
Writing in his column in the Glasgow Times on 5 September, Jack claimed: “Quite simply, a Rangers manager that cannot win those matches, one that cannot beat Celtic, is no use at Ibrox. Right now, that is the most damning indictment on Michael Beale’s charge sheet.
“The visceral way in which Beale’s side were booed and heckled spoke volumes and perhaps encapsulates just how scunnered fans are with such abject showings, with the same mistakes from familiar faces.
“Sunday was an afternoon where Rangers looked disjointed, like a team of individuals rather than a coherent side,
“The contrast to the 55 season, and other derbies during Beale’s time under Steven Gerrard, was stark and there was no control, no cutting edge to a group that has been expensively assembled and that has failed to convince those that pay their wages.
“Once you lose the support of the support, there is no way back.”
Barring a miracle, Beale’s time may be up
The court of public opinion is more often than not a decisive factor in football when it comes to managers. Rarely do you see a manager sacked before the fans turn, and rarely do you see the fans turn without the manager losing his job.
One solace Beale can take amid the madness is that the other determining factor of the dressing room still seems to be on his side. It certainly helps that he was the one who brought the majority of the current squad to Ibrox in the first place, with nine new signings this summer, always likely to stick with their man.
At any other job, such intense scrutiny after just nine games of a season simply wouldn’t be the case. Rangers is a different beast though, and Beale knew that when he took the job. He was aware of the size and the pressures of the club and knew what he was expected to deliver.
His busy summer of spending saw him backed relentlessly by the board in a show of faith in their man, but that backing came with added pressure. When you spend big money, you need big performances, and they simply have not arrived.
In other Rangers news, Beale has entered “very dangerous territory” at Ibrox.