Michael Beale deserves Rangers sack after ‘atrocious, unforgivable incident – Gary Keown
Gary Keown has let rip at Michael Beale, saying that the Rangers manager deserves to be sacked for not only his poor performance but his behaviour prior to being appointed.
Last year, when the axe loomed over Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Beale attended the Louden Tavern and then Ibrox to watch Rangers beat Aberdeen despite knowing he’d been linked with the job at Ibrox.
Beale had recently rejected the manager’s job at Wolves to commit to QPR, bigging up his loyalty to the London club before going back on his word to return to Ibrox in the wake of van Bronckhorst’s inevitable exit.
Keown is still raging about that behaviour and results this season have only solidified the columnist’s opinion that Beale should be sacked by the Light Blues.
“Turning up for that Aberdeen game at Ibrox shortly afterwards (stating his loyalty to QPR) and meeting pundits int he pub beforehand, when van Bronckhorst was clearly one bad result away from being given his jotters, was just atrocious,” said Keown in the Scottish Mail on Sunday on 17 September (pages 108 and 109).
“Beale was already being spoken about as a potential Rangers boss at that point.
“He had actually talked about the job in interviews himself. Even if his assertion that his trip north was arranged purely to say goodbye to friends from his time as Steven Gerrard’s assistant was the truth, it was unforgivable stuff.”
Keown added: “There are a number of things Beale deserves. The sack is one. Sympathy isn’t.”
One win against St Johnstone doesn’t save you
Beale improved on his 50 per cent Scottish Premiership win record this season with a victory away at McDiarmid Park on Saturday.
While it was a straightforward victory without any real drama as Danilo and Rabbi Matondo scored in a 2-0 win over St Johnstone, it doesn’t change anything.
Rangers’ home defeat against Celtic earlier this month is where the Beale’s time ran out in the eyes of many fans.
Prior to that, he oversaw an embarrassing exit from the Champions League.
Let’s face it, van Bronckhorst was sacked for less – at least he made it to the group stages where he suffered some horrific defeats and at least ahead of a poor run in the league, he’d reached a Europa League final and won some silverware.
It’s baffling to see Beale still in a job but Rangers spent a fair whack of money in the summer transfer window and maybe they’re just giving the Englishman time to show that he can use that financing into better performances on the pitch.
Danilo’s goal against St Johnstone was a good start in Beale’s bid to start rectifying things but unforgettable mistakes have been made and it’s definitely time for him to go.
Your Rangers future shouldn’t be left dependent upon results against St Johnstone, Motherwell and Livingston.
If it is, then you’ve already lost.
In other Rangers news, a BBC Scotland pundit was stunned by a “horrendous” incident in the win in Perth.