Pete Hanson

Wed 6 September 2023 9:10, UK

Rangers are facing a “Catch-22 situation” in relation to the future of manager Michael Beale, according to Gordon Smith.

Beale completed a miserable week with a 1-0 loss to Celtic in the Old Firm derby at Ibrox on Sunday (3 September), a result that followed a 5-1 mauling at the hands of PSV to consign the Gers to a 7-3 aggregate defeat in their Champions League play-off tie.

Former Rangers player and director Smith remains unsure if Beale is the man for the job at Ibrox but thinks he needs a bit more time to prove himself.

“I still don’t know if he’s the right man for the job but they need to give him time,” Smith said in quotes reported by the Daily Record (6 September, page 47).

“It’s a Catch-22 situation because the only way he can prove he’s able to do the job is to be given more time.”

What to do?

Catch-22 is a perfect way to describe the situation regarding Michael Beale and his situation at Rangers right now.

On the one hand, there can be no doubt that the Gers have failed their two biggest tests already this season, and an opening-day loss at Kilmarnock did little to inspire confidence either.

And, on the other, Beale was allowed to draft in nine new signings during a hectic transfer window at Ibrox. He needs time to keep integrating those players into his squad and, perhaps more pertinently, if you sack Beale would a new manager want to work with the players he has signed?

Make no mistake about it, Beale needs to see a marked improvement from his side when the action resumes after the international break otherwise it will be curtains for the man who previously worked as Steven Gerrard’s assistant at Ibrox.

But, perhaps for now, a little caution is needed and Beale should be given some more time.

In other Rangers news, Kemar Roofe was caught up in an embarrassing social-media gaffe.