Glasgow Rangers ran out of patience with Michael Beale, and he was fired just ten months into his tenure at Ibrox.
His dismissal was not unexpected, after the 43-year-old led the Gers to just eight wins in their first 14 games in all competitions, failing to qualify for the Champions League and falling to an unimpressive Old Firm defeat against Celtic.
With a slew of names linked to the empty position, Philippe Clement was just confirmed as the new manager, and his calm, no-nonsense approach appears to be a great fit for the club, especially after a strong debut win.
Hibernian were thrashed 4-0 in Glasgow over the weekend, and the performance was a notable improvement from what supporters had come to expect under Beale, who failed to inspire any confidence with a conspicuous lack of playing flair or tactical identity.
For the time being, Clement will have to work with the present collection of players, and he definitely seemed to get a tune out of them against the Easter Road side, but will this continue?
Some of Beale’s summer signings have yet to shine at Ibrox, with Cyriel Dessers scoring just four goals in 16 games and failing to live up to his £4.5m price tag.
Sam Lammers, who cost £3 million from Serie A side Atalanta in the summer, is another star who has yet to demonstrate his full abilities in Scotland.
A fresh start may be just what these two players need to get started, and the next few games will be critical in terms of how effective they can be under Clement.
How has Sam Lammers done this season for Rangers?
Following the end of the 2022/23 campaign, Beale saw the likes of Ryan Kent, Scott Arfield and Alfredo Morelos depart Ibrox due to their contracts expiring and the need for attacking replacements was paramount during the summer.
Lammers became one of his first signings and while he had featured mainly as a centre-forward for Atalanta, Eintracht Frankfurt and Feyenoord in the past, Beale sought to drop him slightly deeper – as a number 10 ideally – in order to bring the best out of his technical ability.
