Chris Sutton takes swipe at Michael Beale as Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic tipped to effect Rangers manager hunt
Chris Sutton has taken a swipe at Michael Beale and tipped Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers to have an effect on the Rangers manager hunt.
Writing in his Daily Record column (14 October), the Celtic legend believes that Rodgers is in prime position to ruin any new manager’s hopes of turning their season around because of his record against the Ibrox club.
But in the process he also took a swipe at long-term foe Beale, claiming Rodgers would have wanted him to not get sacked as the project was going “absolutely nowhere”.
“Brendan Rodgers has already seen plenty of Rangers managers off the premises,” he wrote.
“I’ll bet he’s salivating at the prospect of putting another one to the sword.
“Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps Rodgers would have been quite happy for Michael Beale to stay in charge because that particular Ibrox project was going absolutely nowhere.
“Hearts and Hibs away and a trip to Dingwall are all squashed in around two more Champions League matches against Atletico Madrid. But they [Celtic] seem ready for it and, by continuing to win, Rangers new manager will be under pressure from the moment he gets going. Rodgers has a habit of making life tough for Ibrox bosses. There’s every chance it’s going to happen again.”
Rent free
Even when we’re in the worst shape we’ve been in for a while, with no manager in the hotseat, Sutton can’t stop thinking about Rangers.
His feud with Beale was obviously a hot topic during their time together in Glasgow, with Sutton ultimately getting the last laugh when Beale got the sack following a poor tenure at Ibrox.
But even now with him not involved with the club anymore Sutton can’t help but take a swing or two at him, and even poking at the new boss without anyone even being in place as it stands.
Rodgers and Celtic will of course be confident of keeping their place at the top of the tree because Rangers have got so much wrong in recent years, but we all know it only takes getting the appointment right once to level the playing field and get back to where we belong.
Whether Philippe Clement or Kevin Muscat can do that remains to be seen, but one thing is sure and that’s the fact that Sutton can’t do anything without mentioning our great club.
In other Rangers news, personal terms agreed with new manager as Bisgrove and Bennett close on final decision.