Michael Beale sack at Rangers now decided on game-by-game basis – Peter Martin
Michael Beale is entering a “decisive” three-game period that will determine whether he stays on as Rangers manager, according to reporter Peter Martin.
The 43-year-old is under intense pressure at Ibrox on the back of a week that saw Rangers lose heavily to PSV in Champions League qualifying, before going down 1-0 to fierce rivals Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.
Rangers travel to St Johnstone in their next match on 16 September, before hosting Real Betis and Motherwell in the Europa League and Scottish Premiership respectively.
When asked by Tam Cowan if he agrees Beale is working on a game-by-game basis, Martin told PLZ Soccer [7 September]: “Yeah.
“You look at the fixtures they’ve got after the international break – St Johnstone away, Real Betis at home, Motherwell at home. We saw last season, St Johnstone away was the beginning of the end for Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
“Those three games will be decisive. They’ll be telling.”
Crunch period
The defeats to PSV and Celtic could not really have come at a worse time for Beale, with the Gers having two weeks to stew on those losses over the international break.
However, the more time that passes, the more likely it is Beale will still be in charge by the time the trip to St Johnstone comes around in a little over a week’s time.
Defeat at McDiarmid Park would surely be too much for Beale to come back from, so the “game-by-game basis” comment is hardly hyperbolic.
Even if Rangers come out on top against St Johnstone, there is so little room for error when they face Motherwell the following week.
All that Beale can do at this point is work on finding a favoured starting line-up and hope that his side can finally string some victories together.
His job depends on it.
In other Rangers news, the Light Blues’ failure to qualify for the Champions League has seen Celtic land a hefty financial windfall.