Chris Jack makes ‘unthinkable’ Rangers admission, shares Michael Beale sack verdict
Michael Beale would have been sacked by Rangers if they didn’t beat Livingston on Wednesday (27 September), according to Chris Jack.
Writing on the Rangers Review website on Thursday (28 September), the journalist said a defeat to Livi in the Viaplay Cup would’ve been “unthinkable” and would have “brought the curtain down” on the Englishman’s time at Ibrox.
Although that situation was avoided after securing a 4-0 win, he said the Gers boss still finds himself “on the precipice” despite recording four wins on the bounce.
“Defeat to David Martindale’s side was unthinkable for Rangers and for Beale,” said Jack. “It would have ended their aspirations of lifting the Viaplay Cup for the first time since 2011 and it would have brought the curtain down on Beale’s tenure as manager. Both of those scenarios were avoided.
“Even after a fourth successive win and a fourth successive clean sheet, Beale still finds himself on the precipice. This will not have won over any of those who have already made their mind up about him but the best that he can do at present is to keep his supporters on side and give the floating voters reasons to edge towards his camp.”
Breathing space
It’s been a challenging start to the season for Beale after Rangers have been largely unconvincing in the opening few games of the campaign.
Despite recording a 1-0 victory over Motherwell on Sunday (24 September), his players were still booed off the field because the performance was deemed to not be good enough.
The victory over Livingston will have provided him with a bit of breathing space, as it means lifting the Viaplay Cup for the first time since 2011 remains a realistic possibility.
But the expectations still remain extremely high at Ibrox and he will have to keep on winning games over the next few weeks to put any sack talk to rest.
In reality, though, securing victories at this moment in time is a minimum requirement, it’s the fixtures against the likes of Celtic where he really has to prove his worth.
In other Rangers news, a pundit has raged over a controversial incident against Livingston.