Kirk Broadfoot believes Michael Beale is assembling a Rangers squad that can give Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic a run for their money.
The treble-winning Hoops will go into the new season, under new management, but still as firm favourites. Broadfoot, however, reckons his old team should also be stronger. He points to the fact it is Beale’s first pre-season and he will have a full summer window to revamp his Ibrox squad.
That shake-up is already well under way with moves for Jack Butland, Dujon Sterling, Kieran Dowell, Sam Lammers and Abdallah Sima already completed. There are also deals in the pipeline for Cyriel Dessers and Jose Cifuentes. Broadfoot said: “It will be difficult. Michael Beale has a good squad there and if he is getting backed, then it will be difficult for the rest to match that.
“Celtic are in the position of strength. I know there is the possibility of Jota leaving and it depends if they can keep the majority of his squad together and then add to it. Celtic will still be favourites. Brendan is a top manager and he has proved that at every club he has been at. I would like to think the Rangers can close the gap and run Celtic even closer than they did last season.
“Michael has done well since he has been at Rangers. There has been progress and he has been backed again. It looks like the title race could be tight. For the sake of Scottish football, hopefully it goes all the way to the wire.”
The former Rangers star believes now is the time for Beale to really be judged. He came in midway through a season that had gone off the rails under Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Broadfoot added: “With Michael Beale having his first pre-season and a summer window to get his players in, then you would expect Rangers to be stronger.
“Michael has been backed this summer. They have made quite a lot of signings and there looks to be a couple of others who are quite close so the business that has been done at Rangers has been good.
"It is now looking like his own team now. He has brought in the players he wants now. He only got a couple in January but now there has been a lot of business and a lot of the squad are now players Michael wanted. This is the season where he can really be judged.”
Beale has made wholesale changes and promised even more are on the way. He will be hoping they can make the same sort of impact as Todd Cantwell did when he arrived from Norwich. Broadfoot said: “They have done their homework and would have seen a lot of these players down south and in Europe.
“You just hope it works out and the majority of the signings come in and hit the ground running. It can be hard coming to the Old Firm. There is a big pressure playing for either side and it can be an eye-opener if you don’t expect it.
"I have seen top players take months to get going but Michael needs his new boys to hit the ground running, like Todd Cantwell did when he came in last season. Sometimes at Rangers and Celtic it is not about how good you are but how you handle the pressure and expectation of the fans.”
The biggest headache for Beale this summer was filling the Alfredo Morelos void. The Colombian never hit the heights last season but in his time at Ibrox was the main striker. It looks like the void could be filled with Nigeria international Dessers, with a deal with Cremonese set to be finalised.
Broadfoot said: “It looks like a deal for Dessers is close. He has scored goals in Holland, France and Italy. He looks to have a decent track record and looks like he could be the main goal threat to replace Alfredo Morelos. You also have Antonio Colak who started well last season and if he can recapture that form he has shown, he can score goals. So they could well give Rangers more of a cutting edge that they maybe lacked at times last season.”
The be-all and end-all is about trying to topple Celtic, with second best in Glasgow not an option. Broadfoot reckons the Premiership win over the Hoops at the end of the season would have been massive for Beale and his squad.
He added: “It was big for Michael to get the win over Celtic at the end of last season. People might say the league is over but you don’t down tools in an Old Firm game. To get that win would have been massive for the manager and his players, knowing they can beat Celtic. The game before that was the Hampden semi-final and Celtic were really unlucky there.”
Celtic lost Ange Postecoglou to Tottenham this summer and Broadfoot knows they have gone box office to replace him. The Morton defender said: “If you are a Celtic fan, then you must be happy that you have gone and brought in Brendan Rodgers after losing Ange Postecoglou. He is a top manager, whatever way you look at it. I get that some Celtic fans might not be happy with the way he left the first time around but he is a top, top manager.”
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