Michael Beale took Rangers backwards and Ibrox board must tread carefully as next manager will need to work wonders

“Thank you and good luck”. Five words relayed via Michael Beale’s Instagram page yesterday. As a sign off, it seemed curiously loaded.

Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers is one of several Michael Beale signings who have failed to impress. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

It’s more than luck Rangers need as they contemplate a season that’s already at risk of becoming seriously unstitched. Beale has bequeathed a squad to his successor that is not only failing to keep up with the cross-city rivals, but are currently lagging behind Rangers' near neighbours in Paisley. Seven points behind Celtic is one thing, three behind St Mirren is quite another.

Alex Rae and Steven Davis can hold the fort, they can maybe bridge the gap with St Mirren, with the teams due to meet each other this weekend, but they can’t be expected to take the battle to the main enemy’s gate. Brendan Rodgers is already back doing what he relishes: seeing off Rangers managers. Add Beale to Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha though Rodgers cannot claim all the credit. Derek McInnes and Barry Robson were two other architects of Beale's downfall, though, mainly, it was the Ibrox manager's own misguided fumblings in the transfer market that have done for him.

Rangers now need a manager able to work wonders with a group that includes multiple mediocre signings. But in order to secure this appointment, they need a board equipped to make the right decision when it comes to identifying someone able to get a tune out of the likes of Cyriel Dessers and Sam Lammers. These two players, however unfairly, now look condemned to be cast up as among the reasons why the Beale experiment crashed and burned, in much the way Lionel Letizi and Filip Sebo represent Paul le Guen’s ill-fated time at the club.

Michael Beale shows the strain during Rangers' 3-1 defeat to Aberdeen at Ibrox that sealed his fate. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

It is another crunch time at Ibrox. Gambling is not an option. Hailing someone with a handful of games to their name as “one of the most sought-after young managers in British football”, as Rangers described Beale on the day he was appointed, does not make it true however much you want to believe it.

Where Douglas Park and Ross Wilson, the then chairman and sporting director respectively, failed, James Bisgrove and John Bennett, the current chief executive and chairman, must exhibit good judgment. They will need to be careful to ensure neither sentiment nor the allure of glamour become overriding influences in the process of appointing Beale’s replacement. A willingness to take a drink in the Louden Tavern does not necessarily a good manager make.

Winning is the only way to make friends and influence people, as Beale ultimately found to his cost. He might have grumbled about Ange Postecoglou’s “luck”, although it was not as sour an observation as was interpreted, by Postecoglou as well as others. However, the former Celtic manager did get over the line when it mattered, something Brendan Rodgers tends to do as well. Saturday’s result, when Celtic found a way to defeat Motherwell despite succumbing to a 95th minute equaliser, is a case in point.

Beale initially suggested he might have this knack too, coming from behind in his first game to overcome Hibs, and then relying on two injury-time goals from Scott Arfield to beat Aberdeen in his second competitive outing. That was all well and good. But a late equaliser from Kyogo Furuhashi all but won the league for Celtic in Beale’s first experience of the Old Firm clash as permanent manager. He had failed his first real test. Postecoglou emerged victorious again at Hampden in the Scottish and League Cup semi-finals.

The Greek-Australian is now riding high in the English Premier League and his departure was supposed to have unsettled Celtic. Perhaps it has to some extent. But Rangers have been in no shape to take advantage. Now Rodgers looks to be back in the groove and Rangers are back to square one – or worse. They’ve gone backwards. The absence of a director of football or sporting director, a position designed to prevent what happened this summer happening, is glaring.

There's no point patting yourself on the back for efficient summer business if the business completed is so short of what's required. In a way, the Rangers board should be applauded for stepping in so quickly, just seven league games in. But it’s likely too late already.

There’s little doubt that Beale has been left anguished. Whatever his failings, he clearly possesses deep feelings for the club. The current injury situation must also be noted.

Beale will wonder what the rest of his managerial career looks like. Not many get the chance to take over a club of the size of Rangers having taken charge of just 22 English second tier matches. Easy come easy go, as he has found to his cost.

Without knowledge of the full details, someone studying Rangers managerial reigns in the future might be left perplexed by the way Beale’s tenure ended. OK, the 3-1 defeat by Aberdeen was poor, and is the first time the Pittodrie side have struck three goals in Govan since 1997.

But prior to it were four successive wins all earned with clean sheets, with one of them being a victory over Real Betis. A 3-0 win over Valencia on Sunday saw Manuel Pellegrini’s side rise to seventh in La Liga. It was undoubtedly a scalp but one that might be Beale’s only result of note in just over 300 days in charge.

Beale was generous when he took over last year. He acknowledged that Giovanni van Bronckhorst had not done a bad job. "Let's not make out that everything is broken round here," he said.

It’s true. It was far from completely broken. But it feels more cracked now. When Van Bronckhorst was sacked in November, Rangers had lost only two league games. They have lost three already this season, including twice at home. The writing’s been on the wall. All eyes are now on where Rangers turn next.