Scottish FA must learn from Rangers blunder that hit Ibrox hard after Steve Clarke exit

Rangers fans will have welcomed the return of pre-season with joy after Scotland's disappointing World Cup.

Derek McInnes welcomed his new squad of players back to Auchenhowie, with five signings already made.

It's a far cry from the woes under Steve Clarke, with the Tartan Army crashing out of the group stages in North America.

That led to Clarke's resignation, and the Scottish FA are busy hunting his replacement ahead of the new domestic season.

With that being said, they could learn a lot, or little, from Rangers.

McInnes is the third Rangers manager in the space of a year at Ibrox, with Danny Rohl and Russell Martin before him.

Michael Beale horror story shows what Scottish FA must ignore

Most Rangers fans shiver when they hear Micheal Beale's name.

Despite some calling him the mastermind behind Steven Gerrard's success, his spell as number one ended with a bang.

After a positive start, like so many in recent years, he was sacked.

Hugh Keevins believes his appointment should spell as a warning for the Scottish FA and Ian Maxwell in their manager hunt.

Beale famously attended Ibrox as Giovanni van Bronckhorst was headed for the sack, applauding fans while the Dutchman was still in charge below.

Writing in the print edition of the Sunday Mail on 5 July, Keevins pointed that out and how Scotland can't face the same fate as the Bears.

"Meanwhile, Maxwell would do well to ignore all of the calls from interested parties in the hours after Clarke's exit," he wrote.

"That smacks of Michael Beale standing up in the Ibrox directors' box to be seen by the crowd when Giovanni van Bronckhorst was in his death throes at Rangers.

"Rangers fell for it - and we all know how that turned out."

Rangers hit free fall after Michael Beale

There's a reason he isn't remembered fondly, compared to the likes of Van Bronckhorst.

The famous full-back took Rangers to that monumental Europa League final night in Seville, and was penalties away from further history.

Those wins over Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig in particular will never be forgotten in Govan.

Beale only did what's expected at first, win your domestic games.

But even that didn't take him too far, with Philippe Clement at least lifting domestic silverware after him.

Now, it's over to McInnes to do what those two, as well as Martin and Rohl couldn't do, and that's win the lot.

He knows what it takes to do that at Ibrox given his playing career, and there's a different feeling in the building now after years of disconnect.

Let's hope Scotland can replicate that feeling with their next hire, too.