Beale thinks his “5 player plan” will stop Celtic. After today’s result, think again mate

Well, well, well.

Just as I said earlier today, Beale’s season could start to unravel at Pittodrie.

And so it has.

I had a feeling this was coming.

The Ibrox side huffed and they puffed, but they could not blow Pittodrie down.

Instead of losing 2 points yesterday, Celtic gained one.

Which makes yesterday’s slight disappointment all the more sweeter.

Beale is no longer invincible to the rest of the league.

Watch now, as he deflects, and tries to apportion blame for today’s defeat to everyone but himself.

Talk will quickly switch to next season and to all the plans he has to turn things around.

He’ll start talking about the 5 targets he has in mind for his summer rebuild, and who he plans to offer new contracts.

Based on today’s performance, I can’t imagine he’ll be wanting to offer too many of the players out of contract, who played today, new contracts.

Ange on the other hand, has the luxury of taking his time when it comes to his summer targets.

But rest assured, the wheels will already be well and truly in motion here.

Ange recently stated that he already had some of his summer targets identified.

Its probably likely that he has a replacement earmarked for Liel Abada, if the rumours we’re hearing are true.

That’s just the way Ange operates.

He has no time for sentiment.

You either want to be here or you don’t.

If you don’t, your replacement is being scouted already.

The old media tactic of saying this player is rumoured to be leaving and that player is rumoured to be leaving, well, it doesn’t have the desired effect anymore.

Ange has taken that weapon away from them.

He and his scouting team are miles ahead of the media.

We’ve seen exactly what happens if a player expresses his desire to leave Celtic.

“Fair enough mate, thanks for everything, make sure to shut the door behind you on your way out.”

It’s that cut and dried with Ange.

No matter who it is.

There will be no Prima Donnas in an Ange Postecoglu squad.

My guess is that Ange has his eye on four players to come in during the upcoming transfer window.

If, as is rumoured to be the case, Abada leaves, he will be looking for a new winger to replace him.

In fact, he probably knows who that is already.

I sense strongly that he will be looking at another keeper.

This will be solely with Europe in mind.

If we want to compete at this level, the simple reality is that we’ll need better than Joe Hart.

I say this with no disrespect to Joe Hart, he has done a fantastic job to date.

But he cannot play with the ball at his feet, and last season’s match against RB Leipzig away, highlighted that cruelly.

He’s not getting any younger either.

You might think this is harsh, but remember, Ange does not do sentiment.

Another striker is a must.

If both Kyogo and Oh were injured, this would represent a serious problem.

Finally, I reckon another central midfielder may be added.

Rumours are circulating since yesterday that the club are looking 21 year old German midfielder, Denis Huseinbašić.

Huseinbašić currently plies his trade with F.C. Köln and it’s believed the German club value him at around £5million.

It may seem like we have more than enough players in midfield, but when you think about it, Aaron Mooy and Callum McGregor are not getting any younger.

By the early part of next season, Mooy will turn 33.

Before the season starts, McGregor, believe it or not, will be 30.

Yeah, where did the time go?

He is in his prime now and if he keeps himself in the shape he does, he will definitely play to an age similar to that of Scott Brown.

But it makes sense to bring a young, strong, defensive midfielder who can learn his trade from both Mooy and McGregor.

Huseinbašić might just fit that bill.

Ange Postecoglu is not going to stand still in the next transfer window.

He will continue to build this side to the level he aspires for it to be at.

Sometimes you wonder what that level will be?

Would there ever be a level that satisfies Ange Postecoglu?

He strikes you as a man who strives for perfection, but what is perfection in the eyes of a manager like Ange?

Bearing all of the above in mind, you just know the club will not stand still during the summer.

Funnily enough, Michael Beale believes that we will.

His 5 player recruitment drive is all he has been talking about lately.

Sometimes, when I listen to his press conferences and I’ll be honest, its a struggle, because he often bores me to sleep, I wonder if he’s actually all there?

Look, the man clearly has a decent enough understanding of the game.

His results outside of the games against us showed that, up until today.

But I just don’t think he’s actually engaged with the reality of the position he finds himself in at Ibrox.

He spoke the other day about how he had “lost an ally” in Ross Wilson.

An ally in what?

And against who?

The battle against Celtic, or the battle within Ibrox?

He may just have lost another few allies in the boardroom after today’s capitulation.

At times, his use of language is strange, I mean, I know he’s cockney and they speak a strange language at the best of times.

But sometimes, I feel like he speaks in riddles even he doesn’t understand.

Beale has 12 first team players out of contract in the summer.

He intends, which he keeps telling us, to bring in 5 new players.

He will probably want to offer some of those out of contract players new contracts, but with funds being tight, will he be in a position to offer them better contracts than they were on?

And if he’s not, will they accept reduced terms?

With Elite Sports about to clean them out of £9.5million and the Sydney tournament organisers taking them for £1.1 million, where are the funds for this rebuild going to come from?

Will Ibrox be buried in confetti this summer to raise the £25million the geniuses on Follow Follow believe can be raised through share issues to fund the rebuild?

And once the confetti is gone, what then?

Beale believes his 5 player plan will be enough to challenge Celtic and put them in a position to overtake us.

Maybe that plan stands up, if we stand still.

Even if we did, we’d probably still have enough quality to keep them at bay.

But we’re not going to stand still.

And Beale is a fool if he thinks that’s going to happen.

Think again mate.

We never stop.