Simon Jordan blasts Michael Beale live on talkSPORT over Rangers ‘direction’ after 12 months in charge
Simon Jordan has blasted Michael Beale live on talkSPORT, questioning whether or not the Rangers boss has improved his side in his first year at Ibrox.
Beale’s side have had a difficult start to the campaign, being thrashed in their Champions League play-off by PSV, losing 7-3 on aggregate, before losing the first Old Firm derby of the season to slip four points behind Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic side.
The poor start to the season has seen pressure mount on Beale and calls for his dismissal are becoming more common. Former Crystal Palace chairman Jordan believes that questions will need to be asked of the Rangers boss due to a lack of progress during his tenure.
Speaking on talkSPORT as quoted via the Daily Record (14 September) he said: “You have got a year in and have we seen anything that tells us Rangers are going in the right direction.
“It’s not because I have a bias towards Michael Beale because I don’t think he behaved admirably with QPR, it’s because the body of work after a year tells you he is going to be challenged. Has he had many wins? I don’t mean physical wins, I mean milestones and an indication that everything is becoming rosey in the Rangers garden.
“I would think people are beginning to think this isn’t going the right way, and about how much time he will be given and how much he is entitled to.”
Milestones
The truth of being the Rangers manager, as Jordan explained, is that you’re always going to be measured by how successful you are in the matches that count. It is an expectation that you match or better Celtic and wins over the likes of Livingston and Ross County will do little to ensure you keep your job.
Since he took over at Ibrox as manager, Beale has managed six Old Firm derbies, winning only one, drawing just once and losing the other four, by no means a healthy record in the Light Blues’ most important fixtures.
Some slack could maybe be cut for last year’s displays as that wasn’t Beale’s side, but after the huge turnover this summer the former QPR boss has a team at his disposal that he has compiled together and they arguably look more ineffective now than ever before.
There will always be an argument that both he and his new signings need time to gel together and find their style of play, but patience is something very rarely afforded to football managers in the modern game, especially at a club with such high expectations as Rangers.
Beale is going to have to get the Ibrox club pushing in the right direction quickly, otherwise talk around his future won’t be going anywhere.
In other Rangers news, one of Rabbi Matondo’s former coaches has heaped praise on the winger, describing him as having a Premier League profile