6 Rangers managers given stay of execution and how it played out as Ibrox board hold their nerve over Michael Beale

Rangers chairman John Bennett has opted to stick with Michael Beale despite two defeats from their opening four Scottish Premiership games and crashing out of the Champions League with a hammering in Holland against PSV Eindhoven.

Record Sport exclusively revealed Bennett and the Light Blues hierarchy are holding their nerve - for now - but many of the Ibrox legions aren’t as patient. For a large rump of the Rangers support, the tipping point came on Sunday when they watched their side go down 1-0 at home to an understrength Celtic side.

And they feel that sticking by the Englishman - who is 10 months in the Ibrox hot-seat - is simply delaying the inevitable. Beale has the international break to try and put things right before a tricky trip to St Johnstone, who held the champions to a goalless draw on their own patch, on their return. One more slip could see the heat really turned up on Beale as it would be a long way back in the title race, even at this early stage, if the gap got any bigger. Those in defence of sticking by managers often point to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United after he overcame a turbulent start - but it doesn’t always work out like that. Here, Record Sport looks back at occasions where Gers managers have been under early season pressure and how the board acted.

The Dutchman lost ELEVEN goals to no reply in a horror three-game run as they were hammered by Celtic, Ajax and Napoli to leave him on the ropes. A drab home draw against Livingston left them trailing by four points in the Scottish Premiership at the end of October. Fans could see the writing on the wall at that point but Van Bronckhorst limped on - including a home win against Aberdeen which they won convincingly despite going a goal