Michael Beale might agree with Rangers banner after first 100 days in Ibrox hotseat - Keith Jackson

Michael Beale can blame it all on Franklin D Roosevelt. It was the former American president, after all, who first identified the importance of the ‘first 100 days’ following his inauguration in 1933.

He even coined the phrase. Granted, that was back in the grips of the Great Depression at a time when his country was being ravaged by financial uncertainty and ambitions were falling through the floor. But you get the original point.

Today marks Beale ’s ‘first 100 days’ in the Rangers dugout since his own inauguration as Gio van Bronckhorst’s successor. And – more than a little bit unfairly – it does feel as if he is battling against a similar backdrop of unrest and general dissatisfaction amongst his own constituents. Roosevelt immediately convened a three-month long emergency session of Congress, railroading through 15 major bills and passing 77 new laws. Beale has bought Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin – while leaving both his new recruits on the bench when he lost the first cup final of the season against Celtic.

But the new man can also point to a significant uptick in his side’s results as proof he used his early days in charge to paint a picture of a rosier future for the Ibrox club.

That a core section of fans remain to be convinced is more to do with the general state of malaise, which had set in long before Beale was brought back to the helm to carry out running repairs on a team that had already entered into a steep decline and a state of general disarray.

Having been credited as being the brains behind Steven Gerrard’s title win in 2021, Beale quickly became an obvious and perhaps even a convenient choice for an increasingly embattled board, which tends not to specialise in thinking outside of the box. Even