Rangers fans have turned their focus on manager Michael Beale who stands accused of losing yet another big game in a painful Old Firm defeat to Celtic.
The Gers lost 1-0 to their patchwork city rivals, who went into the match without several of their first-choice defensive options available.
Combine this with a stuttering start to the season at Parkhead, the pressure on Brendan Rodgers and the fact there wasn’t to be a Celtic fan in the stadium and there were huge expectations at Ibrox.
Expectations which, once again, Michael Beale’s Rangers team have failed to meet.
The Ibrox manager is at the centre of much debate over his future and stands accused of failing to win when it really matters since coming into the job last November.
MORE RANGERS STORIES
Whilst every game is important at Rangers, some hold extra significance with many believing Michael Beale’s bottle has crashed whenever the pressure has been on.
We make the defeat to Celtic Michael Beale’s 8th big game failure at Ibrox with the Gers boss’ only credit in the bank coming in the shape of a late 3-2 win at Pittodrie last December, the 3-0 dead rubber win over Celtic at Ibrox last season and the 1-1 draw away to Servette in Champions League QR3.
The following makes tough reading for Michael Beale and with the Rangers boss’ summer signings struggling to settle it’s got an end of days feel already.
Rangers 2 – 2 Celtic 02/01/23 – Scottish Premiership
Michael Beale restored some pride to Rangers post-World Cup after Giovanni van Bronckhorst had fallen nine points behind the Parkhead club in the Scottish Premiership.
After Premiership wins against Hibs (H), Aberdeen (A), Ross County (A) and Motherwell (H) there was genuine optimism that the Ibrox boss could cut Celtic’s lead to six and make the second half of the season more interesting.
Gifting Daizen Maeda an early opener, Rangers rallied to go 2-1 ahead through a Ryan Kent stunner and a James Tavernier penalty before Kyogo Furuhashi equalised late on to maintain the gap.
Rangers 1 – 2 Celtic 26/02/23 – Scottish League Cup Final
Rangers recovered well from the disappointment of that Old Firm draw at Ibrox to go on a nine-game winning streak which included a Hampden League Cup semi-final win over Aberdeen.
That set up a clash with Celtic in the national stadium with Rangers fans expectant and finally hoping to lift the trophy for the first time since 2011.
Kyogo Furuhashi was once again the difference maker for Celtic, netting a double before Alfredo Morelos bundled home a goal for Rangers as Michael Beale’s side came up short.
Celtic 3 – 2 Rangers 08/04/23 – Scottish Premiership
Once again steadying the ship after defeat to Celtic, Beale’s side bounced back with a five game winning run before facing the Parkhead side in Glasgow’s eastend.
Whilst a late title tilt remained unlikely, Rangers had the chance to cut Celtic’s lead in a Premiership six pointer which would’ve made things interesting.
Michael Beale’s team were calamitous in defence as Kyogo Furuhashi proved the Celtic hero again, scoring twice with Jota adding Celtic’s third.
James Tavernier netted twice for Rangers, including a stunning free kick, but the result put Celtic 12 points clear in the Premiership and Rangers in the rear view mirror.
Aberdeen 2 – 0 Rangers 23/04/23 – Scottish Premiership
With question marks surrounding Rangers’ ability to catch Celtic, there was a belief that Michael Beale had in part managed to stymie the Premiership dross.
After all, the Rangers boss was yet to drop points against anyone else in the Premiership and the club had managed to keep touch with their rivals.
But that all changed on this thoroughly dismal trip to Pittodrie, as goals from Liam Scales and Bojan Miovski blew Beale’s record outside of the Celtic matches to pieces.
Rangers 0 – 1 Celtic 30/04/23 – Scottish Cup Semi-Final
Having lost the League Cup Final and fallen 13 points behind in the Premiership, Michael Beale took his Rangers charges to Hampden to once again face Celtic.
In a valiant performance, Rangers huffed and puffed but couldn’t blow the Parkhead side’s door down with another piece of comedy defending gifting Jota the eventual winner.
The result meant Celtic would go on to secure a fifth treble in seven seasons in a damning indictment of the Rangers boss’ shortcomings.
For many, Michael Beale’s card was marked here but others gave the Englishman the benefit of the doubt given the team was set for a summer rebuild.
Kilmarnock 1 – 0 Rangers 06/08/23 – Scottish Premiership
After Michael Beale’s summer rebuild, expectations had risen amongst the Rangers support and Kilmarnock were first up as a new era began.
But the stuttering form of pre-season continued with Rangers struggling to break down a stubborn Kilmarnock who eventually got their goal through Brad Lyons, from yet more calamity Rangers defending.
Rangers could’ve played for two hours without scoring and that expectation turned to anger with the pressure heaped on the club’s frenetic summer transfer activity from the first kick of the ball.
PSV 5 – 1 Rangers 31/08/23 – Champions League Playoff second leg
To Michael Beale’s credit, Rangers managed to navigate a troublesome Champions League QR3 tie with Servette to book a double-header against PSV Eindhoven.
A promising performance in first leg – a 2-2 draw in Glasgow – had given Rangers fans a renewed sense of optimism with Celtic toiling on the other side of the city.
Rangers supporters maybe didn’t expect us to qualify but the Eindhoven horror show still rankles as their club were embarrassed 5-1 in the Netherlands.
Yet again, the club’s summer signings failed to take centre stage and, despite the runners up prize of Europa League qualification, Rangers missed out on the Champions League jackpot that Scottish Old Firm rivals Celtic had already secured.
Rangers 0 – 1 Celtic 03/08/23 – Scottish Premiership
The latest in a long line of Michael Beale-led shambles at Rangers, this one particularly stings given the backdrop heading into it.
Rangers had a huge chance to heap the pressure on Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers with the Parkhead side out of the League Cup and groans aplenty across the city.
They were also set to head to Ibrox with a makeshift defence and without a single Celtic fan with Rangers fans expecting a post-Eindhoven response.
Don Robertson and VAR chose not to award what looked a perfectly good Rangers goal and the Ibrox side were once again caught sleeping with – surprise, surprise – the ruthless Kyogo Furuhashi once again the hero for Celtic.
And with the Japanese striker’s latest Old Firm goal went a large section of the Rangers fanbase’s support of Michael Beale who is surely now teetering on the edge at Ibrox.