Martyn Simpson and Lewis Anderson look back on last weekend's Scottish Premiership action. Did Rangers win over St Johnstone relieve the pressure on Michael Beale? What's going so wrong at Aberdeen and can the Dons turn it around? There's also Hibs, Motherwell and much more ahead of another exciting week of Scottish football action.
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00:00 So Lewis, let's start off with what was the first game of the weekend at McDermid Park?
00:06 A 2-0 win for Rangers.
00:09 You know, when you're managing one of the two Glasgow clubs,
00:13 the pressure's never off for long,
00:15 but that result will have relieved a bit of the pressure that was starting to build on Michael Beale.
00:21 Yeah, yeah, really important one.
00:23 Obviously, there's been a lot of disgruntled Rangers fans
00:26 due to their kind of underwhelming start to the season.
00:30 Obviously, a lot's been made about the new signings,
00:33 still kind of not making the impact that many would have expected them to have.
00:38 And yeah, this was a massive win for them, really, as you mentioned.
00:43 They're much needed for Michael Beale.
00:44 The pressure was on him early doors,
00:46 given, of course, this was the first time they were playing since the old firm defeat,
00:53 and of course, being dumped out of the Champions League.
00:55 So, it has been a really disappointing start to the season.
00:58 There's no getting away from that.
00:59 And you needed to...
01:01 I still think this next run of games could seriously be make or break.
01:06 And in my view, I think they've got the likes of Livingston, Aberdeen,
01:11 you know, these teams still to play.
01:15 I don't think at this moment in time, Europe...
01:19 This season is something that Rangers will do a great deal in.
01:24 In the Europa League, as they started out on Thursday night.
01:28 But it was important that they go into this game against Real Betis on Thursday
01:32 on the back of a real kind of confidence-boosting win.
01:35 I thought, you know, barring maybe a 15-minute, 20-minute spell
01:39 to start the second half, where St. Johnson did have a couple of,
01:43 you know, half-chances, if you like.
01:47 Rangers, across the board, were pretty comfortable winners in the end.
01:53 Yeah, well, they will have those European games.
01:55 And I think the important thing is that the rest of September now,
01:58 it's four home games.
02:00 A positive result against Betis on Thursday will certainly put them
02:06 in the right sort of mind frame to go on.
02:08 And then they've really...
02:10 I mean, it goes without saying, I suppose,
02:12 but three home games for a club like Rangers is nine points must.
02:16 Especially, you wouldn't expect Livingston necessarily to go to Ibrox
02:22 and get something.
02:23 They don't have the best track record of doing that.
02:25 Aberdeen, at the end of the month, maybe they might have potentially
02:30 turned a corner by then.
02:31 Aberdeen fans can only hope.
02:32 But right now, things aren't looking good for them.