Winning trophies always buys managers time, however, at Rangers, it is part of the job description. Michael Beale learning the hard way that unbeaten runs are long forgotten if you lose the games that matter.
Since last season, fans have known that this squad is in need of a makeover, veterans need to be moved on and key players with small medal collections should have been allowed to leave if buyers were interested, a stagnation and continual backing of underachieving players means that this summer could see the biggest turnaround since Steven Gerrard arrived in 2018.
Speaking this week, Beale was asked about how big a job he has in the summer and he is under no illusions that tough decisions will need to be made, as reported by The Rangers Review:
“We need to reduce the number of the squad. If you look at our squad, we’ve carried a large number of players because of injuries. We need to reduce the number of the squad.
“In terms of our budget, I think it is outlaid a little bit large in terms of numbers. So, we want to reduce the number and increase the quality. I think I know where you’re going with the questioning, and I agree, we need to do some really, really good work.
“And listen, I’m sat here as the coach and I came back knowing that, the last 90 days I haven’t had many surprises about how big the job is. I didn’t think I was going to walk in and win the first 15 games and pick up the League Cup and everything would be rosy.
“I knew there’d be some bumps on the road. When they come, they don’t feel good if I’m honest. But come this summer I’ve identified some players. The club’s identified some players. To me, it’s about going and getting that work done swiftly now.”
Beale is right, we need a smaller squad, a more robust squad and, more importantly, a better quality squad.
With the news that Kemar Roofe is going to be out for another extended period of time you couldn’t get a better example of the money that is being wasted sitting in the stands on a weekly basis, it’s just a shame that he has another year to go on his contract because there is no way that we will find a buyer for someone with his track record over the last two seasons.
Let the veterans go too, with age comes an increased likelihood of injury, they also block the pathway for youngsters. Is Cole McKinnon as good a player as Steven Davis? No. But could he do a job backing up the players that we have? Yes.
The clear out should be the easy part, even if you look at players like Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos, have they really won enough in their time at the club to justify being the biggest earners – would you want Beale to start his revolution relying on them to lead us to success? It’s a question only a few people know the real answer to.
Modern football has changed and players moving at the end of their contracts is more and more common, the expected departures free up an awful lot of room on the wage bill for Ross Wilson and his team to play with to bring in the quality that we need – if they have done their homework.