Rangers icon Brian Laudrup reckons Michael Beale would love to hit the button on his Ibrox rebuild instantly but believes his former team are no "hopeless cause".
Celtic head to Hampden as the warm favourites to see of their rivals and edge ever closer to a fifth Treble in the last seven seasons. But the Danish wing king holds out hope Rangers can make waves if key creative duo Malik Tillman and Todd Cantwell come alive at the national stadium and swing the Scottish Cup semi final in their side's favour.
But Laudrup can't help but wonder if Beale is yearning to make his major rebuild happen now with five league games remaining after the big one at Hampden. Speaking in his Daily Mail column, he said: "Going forward, Rangers also need more from Todd Cantwell and Malik Tillman. Both worked extremely hard off the ball at Parkhead earlier this month, but there wasn't enough creativity in their play It's an obvious concern if you have so many players in attacking areas with uncertainty surrounding what they might produce.
"I don't think Ange Postecoglou will feel the same about Kyogo Furuhashi, for example. Beale must be frustrated right now. I'm sure he would start the summer transfer window tomorrow if he could say thanks to the players leaving, make all the changes he wants and start afresh with a team in his image. That's obviously the longer-term aim but, first, there's one massive challenge still to come this season.
"It's not a hopeless cause. Beale set up his side well at Celtic Park. Between the boxes, his gameplan caused Postecoglou some issues. Rangers pressed high at times and tried to limit Callum McGregor's control in midfield. They need to repeat that part again but find more certainty in both penalty areas.
"Another thing that might help is the injury situation at Celtic. Will Reo Hatate and Jota both be fit? Without those two excellent players, a lot of different qualities are taken out of Postecoglou's side. That could benefit Rangers. But they can't just cross their fingers and hope neither makes it. From back to front, every Ibrox player must be at the peak of their game. And for some, including Morelos and Kent, this might be the very last chance to put another medal beside their Rangers memories.
"It's now or never. Three, that's the number of goals Kent has scored in over the all competitions course of this season for Rangers. The 26-year-old will surely hope to add to that disappointing tally before the end of May It would be a shame if their Ibrox careers fizzled out in disappointment."
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