Michael Beale ‘got what was coming to him’ with Rangers sack after ‘awful’ conduct at Ibrox – Chris Sutton
Michael Beale “got what was coming to him” with his dismissal from Rangers after the “awful” behaviour he displayed to get the job, according to Chris Sutton.
Speaking on It’s All Kicking Off on 2 October the Sky Sports pundit called the ex-Ibrox boss “like a Cockney car salesman, going up there with all the chat”, saying “he talked too much” instead of winning.
The former Celtic striker claimed Beale “got away with things” last season by claiming it wasn’t his team yet but clearly the Rangers hierarchy “don’t trust him” now, while Sutton slammed the way the former manager had undermined predecessor Giovanni van Bronckhorst before taking over.
Sutton said (33m 40s): “The job was too big for him… He must have some sort of talent as a coach [but] I think this is a life lesson for Michael Beale.
“I think he should have learned lessons from across the city. Ange Postecoglou, who he actually called ‘Lucky Ange’… essentially Celtic will feel that they were ‘Lucky Celtic’ that Michael Beale was at Rangers…
“The Glasgow goldfish bowl swallowed him up. He was bullish, he tried to appease the Rangers fans with all the talk of culture.
“He seemed to be taking great credit for that league title success… he thought he was the brains behind the operation and were getting this [Jose] Mourinho-type figure up there…
“Any manager who goes up to a game when another manager is in a job as Van Bronckhorst was… he knew Van Bronckhorst was under severe pressure, anybody who does that deserves everything they get.
“That was awful. He knew what he was doing, so he’s got what was coming to him.”
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There were plenty, including Van Bronckhorst himself, who were less than impressed with Beale for showing up in Glasgow and making an appearance at Ibrox as the Gers beat Aberdeen last season with the Dutchman clinging to his job.
In the early days of his reign he largely managed to gloss over detractors by talking up his love of the club and starting to improve results.
But that never stretched to Old Firm derbies and by the time the season was over he had used up much of the patience he had been afforded.
He regularly talked a good game but failed to back it up, most notably in the build up to the Viaplay Cup final last season when he sparked the rivalry with Sutton and then got his team selection wrong against Ange Postecoglou and missed out on a trophy.
Even then, had his much-heralded summer rebuild done its job then his self-promotion and the manner in which he had arrived would probably have been overlooked.
But to style himself as an old-fashioned manager at the club who oversees all areas, only to take the team backwards as his influence grew was only going to lead one way.
He was as good as a lame-duck boss once he lost the first Celtic game this season, and only a long run of wins would have bought him time to redress that.
So dropping more points while playing poorly left the board with only one option, and unfortunately for him it has shown up his failings.
In other Rangers news, a current SPFL boss is seen as a “contender” for the job already.