After the Brazilian provided a date for his prospective return to the Rangers, Danilo may have played his final game under Michael Beale.
The attacker let his followers know on Instagram on September 19 that he is making progress after suffering a head injury during the first half of the Gers’ 2-0 victory over St. Johnstone.
He wrote on social media: “Back home. Recovery gets under way. Back on the pitch in a few weeks,” implying that if Beale is fired as expected, he might play again under a different head coach.
Beale is now under slightly less pressure. Even though the victory at McDiarmid Park was far from convincing, Rabbi Matondo’s game-winning goal in the 79th minute and an early strike from Danilo were enough to capture the crucial three points.
However, the performance fell short of what many people wanted to see for Beale to completely reassure them. Rangers will continue to struggle to stay up after Celtic’s 3-0 demolition of Dundee demonstrated they had no intention of slowing down.
Since Graham Potter, a former Chelsea manager, turned down the club’s advances, The Sun reported (13 September) that the leadership is also looking at other candidates in the dugout in case points are dropped.
The Gers’ challenging matches against Real Betis, a hot Motherwell, and Livingston may not go as planned for Beale, and any blunder may be the death knell for him.
After the season’s mediocre start, many have already called for Beale to be fired. There are several things Beale deserves, Gary Keown said in the Scottish Mail (17 September, pages 108–109). One is the sack. Not sympathy.
He is secure for the time being, but his job will become more challenging if he loses possibly his most productive attacking summer signing to injury. Although Danilo has emerged as the most impressive signing among the offensive newcomers, Jack Butland has established himself as the Gers’ most successful summer acquisition.
This season, Danilo has already scored three goals—two in the league and one in Europe. Cyriel Dessers has contributed, scoring twice and dishing out three times across all competitions, but Danilo hasn’t had many chances to start under Beale.
Danilo has played 378 minutes for the Gers this season, which is almost half of Dessers’ 621, according to Transfermarkt. Only four stars have been given to the former Feyenoord player this year, but after being chosen to start against St. Johnstone, he seems poised to receive more starts.
The manager’s injury could not have come at a worse time, and his goal prior to the accident teased Rangers supporters about what he may have contributed. Beale must rely on his limited resources.
