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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

Chris Sutton blasts Michael Beale as 'cockney car salesman' after Rangers exit

Chris Sutton insists the 'Glasgow goldfish bowl' swallowed Michael Beale up.

As the former Celtic striker likened the ex-Rangers boss to a 'cockney car salesman', he reckons the decision taken by the Ibrox board last night shows they didn't trust the former QPR boss.

Beale was sacked after less than 12 months in the role at Ibrox. Steven Davis has been placed in interim charge of the club while the hierarchy moves to recruit a permanent successor. 

Saturday's 3-1 home loss to Aberdeen was the final nail in the coffin for his tenure, as Rangers fell seven points behind Celtic as a result. 

Reacting to the news on X last night, Sutton aimed a cheeky parting shot. He wrote: "There are some managers that are comedy acts."

Now, speaking on the Mail Online's It's All Kicking off podcast, the pundit has gone into depth about why he feels Beale didn't work out and was never going to work out in Glasgow.

He explained: "It was a play on words (his tweet) with Michael Beale, the former Rangers manager. He dug me out.

"That was based on, me being a little bit petty. He dug me out, he said some ex-players are comedy acts, that was aimed at me and let’s look at what has happened now. The job was too big for him.

"He said I was Chelsea's worst-ever player. He was a Chelsea fan as a boy, I think he played for Charlton Under-14s. He never won anything and still hasn't won anything.

"He must have some sort of talent as a coach, I think this is a life lesson for Michael Beale. He should have learned lessons from across the city, from Ange Postecoglou, who he called 'lucky Ange'.

"He made that comment about him when he was Celtic manager. Celtic will feel they were 'lucky Celtic' when Beale was at Rangers because recently they have wiped the floor with them.

"The defeat to Aberdeen was the end. When fans turn, and they really turned on him after losing to Celtic – seven games isn't a lot. But there was also a Champions League qualifier where PSV wiped the floor with them.

"It was sort of like a London cockney car salesman going up there with all the chat, promising a Ferrari and he got a spluttering three-wheeler.

"He talked too much. The most important currency is winning. The Glasgow goldfish bowl swallowed him up. He went in and was bullish, trying to appease the Rangers fans. I didn't like the way he seemed to be taking great credit from Steven Gerrard's Rangers title success, he was the coach, they thought he was the brains behind the operation.

"He got away with things last season because it wasn't his team, his recruitment. The fact that they've made that call tells you the Rangers hierarchy don't trust him.

"Any manager who goes up to a game when another manager is in a job as van Bronckhorst was, Beale went up and he knew van Bronckhorst was under severe pressure, anybody who does that deserves everything they get.

"He talks about integrity – that was awful. He knew what he was doing and got what was coming to him."

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