Rangers boss Michael Beale demands fixture congestion eased after four games in ten days
Rangers boss Michael Beale has demanded the Scottish FA ease fixture congestion after his side have been made to play four games in ten days, causing further injury concerns at Ibrox.
The boss also took the Aberdeen schedule into account with them having travelled to Frankfurt and Dingwall in the past seven days and suggested their fixture could have been pushed back.
Beale shared that both Kemar Roofe and Ridvan Yilmaz picked up knocks in the Scottish Cup clash against Livingston [27 September], adding to a growing list of injury concerns.
Speaking to the Daily Record on 27 September, Beale said: “Kemar Roofe felt his groin midway through the first half and has a slight problem. He probably should have asked to come off so we’ve had that chat and Ridvan is a touch of cramp. That’s the third game in seven days and Aberdeen will be the fourth in 10.
“The only thing is the games have been at home but that’s hard on our fans financially. It’s not the schedule we make so we have to get on with it but if we look at the amount of injuries that will happen in these games or the three or four after it, could our game against Aberdeen have been moved back 24 hours?
“Because they travelled to Germany and went to Dingwall. If you want to see the product on the pitch we need to protect our players more.”
Measures have to be taken for all clubs
It should be made clear that these complaints are not an Old Firm-centric view of things. As mentioned by Beale, Aberdeen are struggling with congestion and travel issues of their own. It’s about player welfare, which should be the priority across the board.
From a Rangers point-of-view, however, there are concerns that injuries are starting to stack up. Todd Cantwell, Danilo, Nicolas Raskin and Kieran Dowell make up the rest of the list, with Roofe and Yilmaz potential additions with the severity of their injuries being assessed.
Four games in ten days is a difficult schedule for any team to keep up with, and the injuries won’t help their cause, making rotation even more tricky.
It will be up to Beale to ease the burden on his players by utilising the depth of his bench and rotating players when necessary, but he will also be keen not to weaken his team for the sake of it, particularly amid the pressure over his job.
Something needs to change.
In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton had a dig at Gers after an incident against Livingston.