After 13 games, Michael Beale continues to steer his Rangers team on an unbeaten run which is a laudable achievement given the situation he inherited and the fragile mentality of the squad.
Either side of the World Cup break, we had the struggles and ultimately the end of the reign of Giovanni van Bronckhorst followed by Beale’s return which thankfully heralded an upturn in results as well as a change in the personality of the team.
Malik Tillman reflected that sentiment in his interview this week with Kicker, providing insight of the negativity that had emanated in the Rangers dressing room, particular in those high level demanding Champions League ties.
Given that the heavy loss in Amsterdam on Matchday 1 was preceded by the other 4-0 capitulation at Parkhead, it is no surprise to hear of a ‘fear factor’ as described by the German-American:
“It was a good group with Ajax, Napoli and Liverpool, but I think we had too much respect for our opponents. We lost the first game against Ajax 4-0 , after that we were afraid before every game that we’d lose that big again. That was always in our heads, so we couldn’t show what we normally can do.”
That was Tillman’s perspective on the horror that was Rangers experience of taking their place at Europe’s top table this season, a situation that simply must change next time round.
The talented attacker further spoke of the personal and collective gains under Beale in another sign of the progress that has been made. The next step has to be improving the consistency of performance on the pitch, something that is at the forefront of priorities for the manager.