Graeme Souness believes Michael Beale should get time to get it right at Rangers following Champions League failure, but thinks the Gers boss cannot afford to lose Sunday’s Old Firm game.
The Light Blues were thrashed 5-1 in the second-leg of the play-off against PSV Eindhoven in Netherlands on Wednesday night to exit on a 7-3 aggregate and drop down to the Europa League.
Beale, who was assistant to former Gers manager Steven Gerrard, took over the Ibrox hot seat last November and an inquest into his tactics, selections and signings – he has recruited nine new players – began in the wake of the Dutch drubbing and ahead of the visit of Celtic, who lead Rangers by one point in the cinch Premiership.
In a talkSPORT interview, Souness, 70, player-manager of Rangers between 1986 and 1991, said: “It was a tough one to take last night. I’m a Rangers supporter and it was a hard watch.
“We’ve got a new manager and he’s obviously trying to implement new ideas on the group he is working with and he’s got several new faces.
“I watched both games and in the first game they (Rangers) got away with it.
“PSV were a good team on the front foot, not so good at defending, they’ll get beat up a few times in the Champions League by the better teams I would think.
“It was just a step too far for this Rangers team. He’s brought new players in, (it) is still very early to pass judgement on them in terms of how they will do in the Scottish Premiership.
“He’s been there before with Steven Gerrard so he knows the pressures that come with being in the hot seat at Rangers.
“Getting beat up in midweek isn’t good for him, and if they came unstuck on Sunday that will put him under a hell of a lot of pressure.
“He is a relative newcomer to the hot seat. I’ve been there, I have managed big football clubs and Rangers is as big as any. The pressures that come with that job are enormous.
“You’ve got to batten down the hatches and take it on the chin because he will be we getting a lot of criticism this morning, and keep believing in what he’s doing.
“Do I believe in him long term? I wouldn’t be critical of him. I think it’s a hard job, I know how difficult that job is and we’ve got to give him time to get his team thinking the way he wants them to think and play the way he wants them to play. But it’s not an easy job he’s got. It’s a must-not-lose game I think.”
Aguero: 'Not wise' to rule Man City out of title race yet
Sergio Aguero insists it is "not wise" to rule out the prospect of Manchester City catching Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
Liverpool opened up an eight-point gap at the summit on Sunday with a 3-2 win over Southampton, a day on from City's humiliating 4-0 home loss to Tottenham.
It marks the second-biggest lead by a team at the top after 12 matches of a Premier League campaign, bettered only by Manchester United's nine-point advantage in 1993-94.
However, City have previously made up ground when trailing Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool to win the title – the latter by 10 points in 2018-19.
And Aguero, a five-time Premier League title winner with City, has warned Liverpool that history could yet repeat itself this season.
"Pundits are always quick to call the race and my response is always the same: it ain't over until it's over," he told Stake.com.
"The current point advantage may be insignificant by the end of the season. We've seen that happen frequently.
"The 2011-12 season had us eight points below United and we took that trophy."
City are the first reigning English top-flight champions to lose five games in a row in all competitions since Chelsea in March 1956.
Three of those losses have come in the Premier League, which Opta's supercomputer now gives Pep Guardiola's side just a 15.4% chance of winning.
That compares to 76% for Liverpool, but those percentages could swing drastically should City pick up three points at Anfield when the sides face off next weekend.
"Beating Liverpool will certainly help," Aguero said. "But it's not wise to make such sweeping statements when the tournament still has a long way to go."
Kompany wary of PSG quality despite European struggles
Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany is ignoring Paris Saint-Germain's poor start in the Champions League and expects a fierce test when the Parisiens visit Bavaria on Tuesday.
Six-time European champions Bayern are a lowly 17th in the 36-team Champions League table, currently occupying a playoff spot with just six points from four games.
PSG, meanwhile, are in danger of missing out on qualification entirely, sitting 25th with four points after being dealt a difficult draw.
Ahead of this week's fifth round of matches, the Opta supercomputer gave Bayern a 75% chance of reaching the last 16, either via automatic qualification or the playoffs.
PSG, meanwhile, are assigned just a 45% chance of making the round of 16.
However, Kompany will not take anything for granted ahead of the visit of Luis Enrique's men, saying: "We are playing against one of the big clubs in Europe.
They have a lot of individual quality and a very good coach. Both teams will want to win. We are playing at home and this match is of utmost importance to us.
"It's a squad with incredible talent. The spaces between the lines are never big, the pressing is very aggressive and good.
"When they have the ball, they have a clear attacking approach. As a team, they are really very good."
While the German giants have lost two of their four Champions League matches this season, they are undefeated in the Bundesliga and have not conceded a goal in five consecutive league games, but Kompany is still striving for more.
"There are many teams in the competition that we haven't seen yet. We often talk about finishing in the top eight... our goal is to finish top one," the Belgian added.
Bayern are without 20-year-old defensive midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic, who broke his collarbone in October.
"Aleks is not yet fully integrated into training. It is going well and quickly, but it will still take a little while," Kompany said.
One man who is raring to go is Harry Kane, who has scored 50 Bundesliga goals since joining from Tottenham in August last year, needing just 43 games to reach that mark – fewer than any player in the league's history.
"It has been a long time since I felt as good as I do now," the England captain said. "As an experienced player, you learn a lot about different phases in a game.
"Since I've been at Bayern, my numbers have gone up. I hope that this continues and that we can keep raising our standards.
"Without the players around me, all of the goals I score would not be possible. They create space.
"We have a lot of competition for different positions, a lot of quality and a high tempo. Sometimes I also drop deeper to give my team-mates more space. We get on very well."
Leipzig in false Champions League position, says Inter's Inzaghi
RB Leipzig's lowly position in the Champions League standings does not reflect their performances, said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi ahead of their clash at San Siro on Tuesday.
Inter sit fifth in the 36-team group phase, having collected an impressive 10 points through four games, winning three in a row after starting with a draw at Manchester City.
Leipzig, meanwhile, are one of five teams still without a point.
If they lose on Tuesday, they will equal their longest-ever losing run in the competition, having lost five straight between February and October 2021 – two under Julian Nagelsmann and three under Jesse Marsch.
"Leipzig are a team that has been in the Champions League for six years and until Saturday they had the best defence in the Bundesliga," Inzaghi told a press conference on Monday.
"In the four Champions League matches they have played they deserved more, they have only clearly lost against Celtic.
"They have a coach [Marco Rose] who has been there for many years, they have many quality players and the ranking does not reflect their performances in Europe. We know that we are facing a strong team".
Leipzig, who are third in the Bundesliga after losing 4-3 at Hoffenheim on Saturday, kicked off their European campaign with a 2-1 loss at Atletico Madrid and home defeats by Juventus (3-2) and Liverpool (1-0). They lost 3-1 at Celtic last time out.
Inter, meanwhile, are unbeaten in 11 home matches in the competition (nine wins, two draws), keeping nine clean sheets during that run. Inzaghi, however, says they have further gears to find.
"We always have to work harder, this positive moment is the best to push and improve even more," Inzaghi said, reflecting on Saturday's 5-0 win at Verona in Serie A.
"We always try to see where we can do better. On Saturday in Verona, we scored five goals in one half, but we saw where we made some mistakes that could have cost us dearly.
"Last year it was one thing, this year it's different. Both in the league and in the Champions League there are many pitfalls."
Inter, who won the Scudetto last season and were Champions League runners-up in 2023, are third in Serie A, one point behind Napoli and level with second-placed Atalanta.
Midfielder Davide Frattesi is likely to miss the Leipzig game but Inzaghi will hope to have midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu and forward Lautaro Martinez available.
"Frattesi has been having a little problem with his ankle for 10 days. It will have to be evaluated. Yesterday it gave him some problems and today he didn't feel at his best," Inzaghi said.
"Calhanoglu and Lautaro were absent in Verona but had two good training sessions yesterday and today. Tomorrow morning, I will evaluate the lineup."
Calhanoglu was substituted at half-time in Turkiye's match against Wales on November 16 with a muscle issue, while Martinez, who scored in Argentina's World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru, fell sick as he returned from international duty.
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