Michael Beale sack already on the cards at Rangers after 'ruthless' John Bennett moves

Gary Keown has predicted Michael Beale could be soon heading for the sack at Rangers following the opening day defeat to Kilmarnock.

On page 99 of the Scottish Mail's print edition on 6 August, the journalist said the Gers boss, who he described as a "lazy appointment", is not chairman John Bennett and CEO James Bisgrove's man.

Keown believes that after the pair's "ruthless" clear-out of the boardroom, it could be time to start "sharpening the lance" amid the potential departure of Beale.

The journalist said if Rangers lose at home to Celtic on 3 September he would be as well "handing his notice in", but that he may not have the choice of doing that if they lose to Swiss side Servette FC in the Champions League third qualifying round before then.

Strong words

They are extremely strong words from Keown just one game into the season and, usually, you would think it's quite ridiculous to talk about a manager staring down the barrel after one game, but it wasn't good enough.

Rangers absolutely couldn't afford to lose on the opening day because there's so little margin for error in the SPFL, given that the club finished seven points behind Celtic last season despite only losing four matches [Sky Sports].

It looks as though the club's Glasgow rivals have been weakened over the summer, but the Gers' defeat will have handed them a boost after they beat Ross County.

Beale obviously won't be getting sacked just yet, but he is already under pressure after being given the tools to bring in the players he wanted during the transfer window.

He really needs to put the defeat to Kilmarnock behind him and record a few victories on the bounce to put any talk of the sack to bed at this point in the campaign.

In other Rangers news, one player has been left in a "precarious" position amid talk about a move away from Ibrox.