Graeme Souness drops ‘Enormous’ issue for new Rangers manager after Michael Beale sack
Graeme Souness has warned the next Rangers manager of the pressures that come with the job after Michael Beale was sacked at Ibrox.
Writing in his Daily Mail column (6 October), the Ibrox legend admitted that the job was too big for a rookie like Beale to take over in hindsight and especially when his recruitment has proven to be poor.
But Souness says the next boss to come through the doors will know of the “enormous” ask they will have to bring success back to the blue side of Glasgow and expects a “big man” to take the role.
“In hindsight, it was an enormous ask for Michael Beale, a rookie manager, to take over at a giant club like Rangers,” he said.
“It went well for me in Glasgow, though it was the most difficult job I had in 20 years of management because of the expectation levels, the pressures and the unyielding spotlight.
“Getting recruitment right is the top priority for any boss but unfortunately for Michael, his signings haven’t turned up yet this season. Rangers and Celtic are operating with TV incomes of around £3million, while playing to full houses of around 60,000.
“I live on the south coast, where Bournemouth get gates of 11,000, and their TV revenue is around £100m. For the Rangers and Celtic manager, it’s all of the pressure and a fraction of the money.
“Though the Premier League is still the No1 destination for any aspiring coach, I’m sure Rangers will attract a big man for what is a big, big job.”
Enormous
Enormous seems like the perfect word to describe the ongoing things happening at Rangers and the size of the decision facing the board in the coming days.
Beale was a gamble and everyone knew it at the time, and even after being given time he never really seemed to be able to put his print on this Rangers side or stamp his authority on the team.
His recruitment proved to be relatively poor with Todd Cantwell probably his best signing of the lot, and considering the huge overhaul the squad had in the summer that is just simply not good enough.
Whoever comes in next will be under huge pressure to hit the ground running and get the job done quickly, because being so far off Celtic at this stage is unacceptable but to have fallen so far since our last title is inexplicable really.
Souness knows better than most what is needed at Rangers, so hopefully the board listen when he tells them to get in someone big enough to deal with it.
In other Rangers news, manager jets into Glasgow for talks over vacant manager’s job.