Daily Record reporter issues ominous Celtic Park warning to Micky Beale

Scott McDermott has warned Micky Beale that he can’t afford another capitulation to Celtic on April 8.

The two Glasgow sides met at Hampden on Sunday with McDermott telling the Daily Record Rangers Podcast that Beale’s side went down without a whimper.

After three months of talking a big game Beale’s bottle crashed when it came to picking his team.

Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin were to kick start an era of dominance but Beale was afraid to put him in his side leaving John Lundstram and Glen Kamara to get rag-dolled again.

From the moment his side for Hampden was announced Beale has been under criticism, no one in the media has attempted to justify the decision to leave out the two January signings.

Since Celtic lifted the trophy the criticism has been non-stop of the rookie boss, a repeat at Celtic Park next month might result in Beale’s stay being even shorter that his predecessor.

On the Record Rangers podcast McDermott warms:

Problem is Fraser, and I think I said this last week, the next Old Firm game, league game, is we’re back to Celtic Park.

Rangers fans need to see, the Rangers manager put down some kind of marker in Old Firm games at Celtic Park because of the recent history, because of the 3-0 and 4-0 hammerings that they took under van Bronckhorst.

Now I agree with Andy, and I’ve not been heavily critical of Beale, I do feel for him and I think that he is in the middle of a process and actually does know what is required and what is needed.

The problem is that these games are still coming thick and fast and, Andy’s right, as Rangers manager you are judged on the next game and you are also judged on how you do against Celtic whether you like it or noe and unfortunately they’ve lost that cup final, lost it with a whimper, lets be honest and the next league game against Celtic they are going to need to go away from home.

If, and I know it is a big if, you need to think of Rangers’ motivational levels if the league is already gone going into that atmosphere at Celtic Park, what it is going to be like that day.

If he was to lose that game, lets be honest it wouldn’t be a surprise, you can lose games away from home, Old Firm games. If he was to lose that, he has already lost the cup final, as Andy said, suddenly pressure is building.

Now of course he is going, the summer is going to be when he makes the changes, he’s going to get his proper recruitment in, it is going to be all about next season.

But I just think that Sunday in that regard was a huge missed opportunity for Rangers. To put in a performance at a neutral venue, go and win a trophy, you know that would just have eased so much of the pressure.

But now, as I say, with that performance, losing the cup, the thought of the next Old Firm game at Celtic Park, honestly, the intensity, Michael Beale knows this but the intensity is going to build and build. Between him and his Rangers players they need to show the fans something, they need to show something ahead of next season that proves to them that we won’t be rolled over again, it just won’t happen.