The Express claim that Giovanni van Bronckhorst was left “disappointed” when Michael Beale was invited to Ibrox to watch Rangers beat Aberdeen 4-1 in October – with Beale now one of the favourites to take over from the Dutchman.
Van Bronckhorst has finally been sacked this week after a poor start to the campaign. It comes after impressing in the hotseat towards the end of last season, winning the Scottish Cup and losing the Europa League final, only on penalties.
But with Rangers nine points behind Celtic and losing all six Champions League games, van Bronckhorst has been sacked. Beale is one of the favourites to take over. The Sun claim he is keen to return to Rangers as manager.
Other managers have been linked. Peter Bosz, Gerardo Seoane and surprisingly, Scott Parker is under consideration – as per Dean Jones. Beale was invited to Ibrox to watch Rangers play Aberdeen, with van Bronckhorst under pressure.
Beale is said to have had a few beers at the game – but it left van Bronckhorst ‘bemused’. A source said: “Gio was very disappointed when he found out that Michael Beale was a guest of the club at that game. It was too coincidental.”
Van Bronckhorst disappointed Beale invited to Ibrox to watch Rangers
It does seem quite sneaky from the Rangers board and in particular, Ross Wilson. It might have been a sign that Wilson was already preparing to oust van Bronckhorst, and wanted to bring Beale to Ibrox to see where his head was at.
Of course, Beale rejected Wolves after a brilliant start to his life as a manager at QPR. He was also linked with replacing Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa. Only for the Midlands club to bring Unai Emery back to the Premier League.
It was the right decision for Rangers to ace van Bronckhorst. While he deserved more time, fans had turned and a change was required. Beale would be a good appointment – but, there is a slight smell of cunning behind it.
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