St Johnstone great in ‘pressure’ warning to Rangers and Michael Beale
Murray Davidson has said that St Johnstone will be looking to add to the pressure on Micheal Beale and Rangers when the two sides face off following the international break.
The Light Blues have been out of action following their disappointing defeats in both their Champions League play-off match against PSV and the first Old Firm derby of the season against Celtic, results that have left Beale on the brink of the sack.
It was a defeat to St Johnstone in November 2022 that signalled the start of the end of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s reign at Ibrox, and Davidson – who won Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup honours with St Johnstone – says the Saints will be out to take advantage again.
Speaking to the Daily Record on Monday (11 September) he said: “You’re always aware of pressure building on opposition managers and I’m sure some players do use it for motivation. I always thought that if a manager was under pressure, so would the players.
“You have to play on that and use it to your advantage. Football can be a ruthless business at times. Last week wasn’t ideal for Rangers but it’s a club we all know has to be winning every week or pressure builds. But listen, we’re five weeks into the season and for people to be coming under pressure so early, I just think it’s ridiculous.”
Upset potential
Michael Beale will know more than anyone the sort of pressure that he is under at the moment and although he has been afforded time to turn Rangers’ fortunes around, that time will be much reduced should his side fail to get a result against St Johnstone.
The opposition will of course smell blood, they’ll know that this side is under pressure to get a result and if that pressure spills onto the pitch players will be more likely to make mistakes or be rash in their decision-making.
During Van Bronckhorst’s tenure, this was the game that put him on the back foot following a disastrous Champions League campaign and the same will be true for Beale should his team not get three points with a convincing performance.
The task is simple for the Rangers manager, win the game or the calls for your head will continue. Before a ball had been kicked this season, nobody would have viewed this as a potentially season-defining match, but with Celtic already opening a four-point gap it could have a huge impact on both Rangers and Beale’s position.
In other Rangers news, Sam Lammers has had a difficult start to life at Ibrox and it’s hard to see where his goals will come from