Football news 2023: Kevin Muscat to Rangers, Michael Beale, will Beale be sacked, Scottish Premiership, latest, updates

Australian manager Kevin Muscat has been linked with a move to Scottish giants Rangers as pressure mounts on Michael Beale.

The incumbent Rangers boss was loudly jeered by the Ibrox faithful as a Kyogo Furuhashi goal helped Celtic to a 1-0 victory in the first Old Firm derby of the season.

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Celtic’s victory ensured there would be a four-point gap between the two going into the international break, with the Hoops on top of the Scottish Premiership.

League woes aside, Rangers’ brutal exit from the UEFA Champions League play-offs at the hands of PSV Eindhoven — where the Scottish side lost the second leg 5-1 — has also soured the mood in Glasgow.

Given the vocal disapproval of Beale from the Rangers fans, it could be too late to swing them back in his favour.

It also appears Rangers are even preparing a shortlist of candidates to take over in the event of Beale being sacked, with Muscat a frontrunner.

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Per the Scottish Sun, Muscat is the bookies’ favourite to take over and is ahead of candidates like Jesse Marsch, Marcelo Bielsa and Ralph Hassenhuttl.

Muscat would not be a stranger to the surroundings at Ibrox having won the treble during his only season at Rangers.

The 50-year-old has also enjoyed plenty of success at managerial level.

In a stint lasting almost six years at Melbourne Victory, Muscat led the side to two A-League championships as well as the minor premiership and an FFA Cup to boot.

Although he struggled in a brief stint with Belgian side Sint-Truiden, Muscat has worked wonders at Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan.

He took over at Yokohama after Ange Postecoglou moved to Celtic and managed to win the J1 League title in just his second season at the helm.