Rangers boss Michael Beale yet to prove he’s a better manager than Giovanni van Bronckhorst, claims pundit

Rangers boss Michael Beale has been warned that he is yet to fully prove he is a better manager than predecessor Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

The Englishman, who has only been in his post for four months at Ibrox, will lead his side into battle against Celtic for a fourth time this season and victory for the Light Blues is a necessity if they are to keep any residual hopes of closing the gap on their city rivals intact.

Ange Postecoglou’s men head into Saturday’s Premiership derby match sitting nine points clear with just eight matches left to play and Beale will know he needs to record TWO victories over the Hoops to stand any chance of keeping them in title contention.

Sky Sports pundit Andy Walker acknowledges much of the damage had already been inflicted prior to Beale’s arrival as manager last November and despite winning 15 of his 16 matches in charge so far, the Gers haven’t managed to eat into the current holders gap at the top of the table.

Postecoglou has brought about a major turnaround in the champions fortunes and Walker insists opposite number Beale must find a similar formula - starting at Parkhead this weekend.

Walker said: “It’s win or bust for Michael Beale. We’ve just spoken about Ange Postecoglou, when he came in, think back to the enormous gap there was between Celtic and Rangers. When Steven Gerrard won that title, it was 25-odd points.

“What you asked of him in a short space of time was to put together a team in a short space of time that could beat Rangers, and to win a trophy. He didn’t do just that. He went on and won the title after being behind and also won a League Cup. The only hiccup they have had has been that semi-final (Scottish Cup) defeat to Rangers last season at Hampden.

“That Rangers team was better than the team they have now. It had Joe Aribo who was a huge player, Calvin Bassey was also part of that. This was a Rangers team that had a tremendous run to the Europa League final. Beale has only had one transfer window and he’s made some changes to the team but he needs to make more. Celtic are stronger in pretty much every department.”

Rangers won the Scottish Cup and reached the Europa League final under Van Bronckhorst last season, While recognising the club have made significant progress under Beale’s leadership in the short term, Walker believes the ex-QPR boss needs to have a successful summer transfer window.

He admitted: “To be fair to Van Bronckhorst, he won them a trophy, he got them to a European final, and that money was absolutely essential. So it’s a tall order for Michael Beale. Look what he’s done already. He hasn’t lost a game other than Celtic in the League Cup final and the only other points he’s dropped in the league were against Celtic at Ibrox when they were 2-1 ahead.

“He has to come up with something that’s a bit different that Rangers fans can hang onto. You know what it’s like in Glasgow, if you’re second, you’re last. We’ve seen an improvement in Rangers and Beale needs at least one more transfer window where he has to be successful.

“You’ll always be compared to Celtic, look at what Postecoglou has done in the transfer market. Pretty much every signing has been a success, and that’s the very high bar that he has set.”