End may be nigh for Ryan Jack at Rangers as Michael Beale sack decision made
It’s been a mixed-bag year for Ryan Jack at Rangers – and the senior midfielder may be staring down the barrel of a possible exit after a decision was made on Michael Beale’s Ibrox future.
As reported by the Daily Record (6 September), chairman John Bennett and other Ibrox chiefs are “ready to stand behind” Beale for now despite disappointing results in the first weeks of the window.
Daily Record journalist Keith Jackson also reported on the paper’s website Wednesday morning (6 September) that Bennett “will resist calls” to remove the under-fire Gers boss “despite the outpouring of fan fury” after the 1-0 loss to Celtic on Sunday (3 September), but Beale will have to “deliver an immediate upturn in results”.
The Rangers chairman is “determined” to give his manager the “benefit of the doubt” but the 43-year-old will need to “avoid another European humiliation” and successfully reach the League Cup semi-final to prevent his job situation becoming “critical”.
Rangers fans will certainly be incredibly disappointed at the manner of recent results at Ibrox especially after Beale was backed so heavily in the transfer market with as many as nine signings made.
Throughout the ongoing change at the club, Jack has been somewhat of a mainstay in the Rangers team, going on to feature in 29 Scottish Premiership games over Beale’s tenure [SofaScore] and making 20 starts at the heart of the midfield but the senior star hasn’t been without his injury issues.
Jack signed a new contract at the club in May (Rangers website, 19 May) extending his stay for another year following some decent performances for the club, but with under a year remaining on his current deal, Rangers may well be planning for life after the 31-year-old.
In order for the Gers to fully compete with Celtic this season, Beale will need players capable of playing 25-30+ games a season, players who are durable and reliable and given Jack’s disastrous injury record, it comes as a major cause for concern even after the amount of players brought in at the club.
Certainly, Rangers completed some excellent business but these last few matches have certainly highlighted a few more worrying weaknesses in the squad and defensive midfield is crucially one of them with the likes of PSV Eindhoven and Celtic tearing through Beale’s midfield at will.
Jack has been an excellent stalwart throughout Beale’s tenure at Ibrox but he can’t be relied upon to feature every week, especially with another Europa League campaign on the horizon.
Jose Cifuentes and John Lundstram are decent possible backup options in the defensive midfield role right now but Beale has taken a preference to utilise them higher up the pitch which leaves them desperately short if Jack gets injured again.
If Rangers want to be Scottish Premiership title certainties, they need players capable of starring in midfield for the majority of the 36 games.
And given the decision taken on Beale’s job security at Ibrox, the Rangers coach may now already be forging up plans to replace the 31-year-old midfielder with Jack certainly not getting any younger. Alternatively, should Beale depart the club in the coming weeks, it’s uncertain the man to replace him would rely on Jack too.
In other Rangers news, James Tavernier has reacted to jeers the Gers faced after the defeat to Celtic