Michael Beale branded Rangers 'conman' and 'snake' as former Ibrox star loses the rag

Derek Ferguson has branded Michael Beale a "conman" and a "snake" in an astonishing angry rant.

The former Rangers boss was sacked by Sunderland this week after just 12 games at the helm, with rumours swirling that Beale himself had been behind social media posts from an account defending and praising him. Now Ferguson has his detective hat on, wondering if Beale himself was the source of rumours during his time in Govan that he was the brains behind Steven Gerrard's title success.

'We were told under Gerrard, he was the brains behind it," Ferguson told Open Goal. "Was he behind that then? Was he posting on Twitter, saying he did the tactics, he's amazing on the grass and all that? See the stuff he spouted by the way? And then you listen to Clement? it's like night and day." Fellow pundit Gordon Dalziel then interjected: "You were on shouting about him (Beale) being a great appointment!" But Ferguson replied: "I was bought, because he's a conman! A salesman That's what he did!"

Ferguson then banged his fists on the table before continuing: "Sorry, I don't know how I lost my rag there. but another thing, when Gio (van Bronckhorst) was in the manager's job, and Beale's in the Louden Tavern an all that, behinds the scenes? Snake. It's terrible."

Dalziel then weighed in with an anecdote of his own. he said: "I know somebody inside Ibrox, and I'm not going to say who it is, I asked how did you know that Michael Beale was a great coach? And he said: 'Because he told me every f****** day!'"