Brendan Rodgers flashes trademark Celtic gesture to his fan club INSIDE Ibrox as Beale left with no Rangers fall guy

Michael Beale didn’t hang about to hear the reaction.

While the manager made straight for the tunnel at full-time following the briefest of handshakes with Brendan Rodgers, chairman John Bennett and predecessor Douglas Park exchanged terse words. Fair play to the players for forcing themselves to endure a lap of dishonour during which the Ibrox faithful made clear just what they thought. And it wasn’t pretty.

Scuffles even broke out in the Broomloan Road. Those watching on must have wished their team had shown the same levels of fight. If referee Don Robertson thought he’d got it tight for chopping off two Rangers goals, then it was nothing compared to the blast of rage that was aimed at the Ibrox boss after overseeing yet another big-game failure. A penny now for Bennett and Co’s thoughts, having sanctioned £15million of signings this summer and finding themselves relying on Steven Gerrard-era stalwarts.

Unlike last season, Beale doesn’t have Ross Wilson and Stewart Robinson to take the flak. This one is on him. Where Rangers go from here is the question the Ibrox board must be asking themselves. The gap may only be four points but Gers have handed their rivals a start they’ve proved incapable of chasing down in recent years.

The Celtic directors sitting in front of Bennett and Park were pleased with themselves as Rodgers flashed a thumbs-up on his way off the pitch. They welcomed him back knowing he’d have to win over those bitter about his departure last time round. For all it’s been a stuttering start to the season, this will go a long way to regaining the trust of fans who once adored him. As for Beale, this was an opportunity to finally prove he has what it takes to restore Rangers to former glories.

Instead, it