Reporter Jim White claims to have been told from a source at Rangers that there is no truth to reports suggesting former Chelsea boss Graham Potter has been offered the chance to replace Mick Beale at Ibrox.
After turning his nose up at the advances of troubled Ligue 1 giants Lyon, the Scottish Sun reported this week that Graham Potter had been similarly dismissive when approached by a Rangers side licking their wounds after that Champions League hammering at PSV and the insipid Old Firm derby defeat by Celtic before the international break.
Rangers, the report adds, contacted Potter’s camp. Only to be told in no uncertain terms that the one-time Brighton and Swansea coach was not interested.
But, having contacted a source allegedly working at Ibrox, veteran reporter Jim White insists on talkSPORT that those rumours are just that.
Rumours.
Rangers linked with former Chelsdea manager Graham Potter
“(Rangers interest in Potter) is false,” White tells talkSPORT (14 September, 10.30am).
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Then again, the fact that this is even a topic worthy of discussion highlights the growing pressure facing Beale; his backside burning in this most scalding of managerial hotseats.
There is, as they say, no smoke without fire.
Rangers have also been linked with Birmingham City boss John Eustace, via the Daily Mail, as tricky encounters against Real Betis and second-place Motherwell loom on the horizon.
‘Got to be better’
“You’ve got to be better than Celtic. And, if you are not, then you’re going to come under fire because the expectation level is established,” argues Simon Jordan, the outspoken former Crystal Palace chairman.
“And questions will abound if you’re losing to Celtic and getting smashed in the Champions League.”
Beale is approaching his one-year anniversary at the helm; replacing Giovanni van Bronckhorst in the Ibrox dugout in the autumn of 2022.
Despite some impressive domestic form, however, Jordan is yet to see anything to suggest that Beale’s Rangers – even after a summer of heavy spending – can close the cavernous gap between themselves and Celtic.
“We are a year in,” Jordan adds. “Have we seen anything about Rangers which tells us Mick Beale is going in the right direction?
“The body of work after a year tells you he is going to be challenged.”