Michael Beale sack verdict issued by former Rangers ace amid Celtic defeat after ‘all that money’ spent this summer
Graham Dorrans doesn’t “see the point” in sacking Michael Beale because it would send Rangers “back to square one” after the summer rebuild.
The former Rangers midfielder told the Daily Record (6 September) that it wouldn’t make sense to get rid of the manager “at the first slip up” after letting him bring in nine new players during the transfer window, but admitted the club appear to have “gone backwards” since the 55th title win amid a disconnect between his view as a player and a fan.
Beale is facing calls to be fired after losing 1-0 to Celtic on Sunday, off the back of a 5-1 defeat at PSV Eindhoven in midweek, but John Bennett is expected to resist during the international break.
Dorrans said: “I think that all stems back to us winning the league under Steven Gerrard and the expectation we’d build on that and achieve some sustained success. But that hasn’t happened. It feels like we’ve gone backwards a bit.
“As an ex-player, I agree we need to show patience. There’s a lot of new bodies in and they need time to gel. But with my fan hat on, I know you don’t really get that at Ibrox. The supporters demand success and you have to hit the ground running.
“If that success isn’t coming you have to accept that everyone is going to get it, players, managers and directors. They have to deal with it – and deal with it fast. But I don’t think they need to do anything drastic like changing the manager.
“I know the fans are disappointed at the moment but the new players are still going to need time to adjust whatever happens. Getting results now is crucial though and if they can go win the next 10, 15 games, everybody will forget about the last week.
“Mick has brought in nine new players and they do need that time to build momentum. I just don’t see the point in letting him spend all that money then changing him at the first slip-up. It just puts you back to square one.”
Reasonable
In many ways Dorrans is right in that the great lengths the club went to during the transfer window could be completely wasted if they change managers at a similar stage of the season for the third campaign running.
Antonio Colak looked like he might be the signing of the season when he came in under Giovanni van Bronckhorst and started scoring straight away, but Beale never fancied him and the Croatian was sold after just a year.
The likes of Cyriel Dessers, Sam Lammers and Danilo were brought in for millions and there was an expectation, given how the January signings of Nico Raskin and Todd Cantwell had proven very successful, that the manager knew what this side needed and his summer recruits would follow suit.
So far it has been much more of a mixed bag, but if the man who wanted them at Ibrox is struggling to get a proper tune out of them, as well as the rest of his side, then there will be questions about whether someone who didn’t can do better.
But the problem for Beale is that this isn’t the “first slip up” because the manager has already lost three times in a month, and this was supposed to be where his tenure really got going after a worrying habit of coming up short in the big games last term.
Everyone hopes for a transformational new coach to arrive and right all the wrongs immediately, but if the next man in doesn’t prove to be the answer then Rangers would be going through the same cycle season after season.
However, Beale can’t afford to keep struggling, with even wins still looking fairly disjointed, or he is going to leave the Gers doing just that.
In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton gave his verdict on returning to Ibrox after being kept away for “telling the truth”.