Where are Rangers under Michael Beale after first month of season?

As it stands, that is true for Rangers in terms of the Premiership title and there are, of course, no medals handed out just four games in. Yet when it comes to faith, backing and belief, does Michael Beale have as much credit in the bank heading into the second month of the campaign as he did at the start of the first?

The feelings – those of excitement, confidence and bullishness – that were steadily enhanced over the course of the summer reached a crescendo at Rugby Park. Just 90 minutes later, it felt like the balloon had burst.

If that defeat to Kilmarnock had been the low point of the opening weeks, Rangers would have been largely pardoned by the punters. It was, though, only an amuse-bouche to what would be served up by a squad that had been extensively remodelled and expensively assembled and a manager that had been given carte blanche in the decision-making process.

Beale rightly refused to use the number of new players as an excuse for the performance or the result in Ayrshire. Five of his summer recruits started and the most expensive of them, £6million arrival Danilo, emerged off the bench on an afternoon that has been symptomatic of Rangers for so long as the half chances that were carved out were squandered and a goal was conceded in careless circumstances.

READ MORE: Michael Beale's Celtic record raises questions over Rangers future

That narrative of blaming an unfamiliar side for an incohesive performance would have been, according to Beale, a "cop out" and he instead focused on the "connections" that had to improve as relationships were built in the dressing room and on the park. It was a process that had to be stepped up quickly, yet it is one that has still not come to full fruition.

The themes have been similar throughout nine matches that have been played so far. Beale has yet to name the same team in any two fixtures and that feeds the suggestion that the manager doesn’t know what his best line-up is right now.

The condemnation for that statistic should not be too damning. Given the schedule and the number of players that must be integrated into the squad and the side at the start of their Ibrox careers, it was always natural that there would be a degree of mixing and matching going on.

That process cannot, though, come at the detriment of coherent performances, and certainly not at the expense of results. Three defeats and two draws in the first nine, with three of the wins coming against a Championship side and Premiership opposition that should be routinely overcome, is damning but does not tell the full story of where Rangers are at present.

Rumours of sackings and summits were always likely to come given recent events. Each has been dismissed and Rangers will not get involved, either way, in publicly commenting on speculation.

Beale had set three main targets for the first phase of the season. Only one of those objectives has been achieved, and even that was far from straightforward after victory over Morton earned a place in the quarter-finals of the League Cup.

The day after that win, Beale received his first unexpected bonus of the campaign as Derek McInnes completed a quickfire Old Firm double and Celtic stumbled at the first hurdle. The path to the silverware had been cleared for Rangers and there is now no excuse for the trophy not being lifted on December 17.

READ MORE: Chris Jack - Michael Beale has failed to answer his big game question 

The second gift that Beale was granted came just over a week ago. Once again, it was a Celtic slip-up that had changed the dynamic and the mood after Rangers had taken care of their own business. A 2-0 victory away to Ross County was as comfortable and as composed as can be expected. Kemar Roofe marked his return to the side with a goal that few others in the squad are capable of scoring, while the same could be said of James Tavernier’s sublime strike.

Rangers could have been more clinical and won by a greater margin but a clean sheet – just their second of the season - and three points represented a pleasing afternoon all round as the visitors embarked on the journey back down the A9 and turned their attentions towards PSV Eindhoven.

Beale made the trip himself rather than on the team bus. By the time he reached House of Bruar and called in for a quick pitstop, the news that he would have hoped for had just been confirmed as the final whistle was blown at Parkhead. Celtic had been held at home by St Johnstone and their advantage in the standings had been eroded. Rangers now had top spot in their sights and the dream hypothetical was one-third towards becoming a reality on the eve of their Champions League date with destiny and the first Old Firm fixture of the season.

It was a reminder of how quickly fortunes can change, especially in a city like Glasgow and at a club like Rangers. The aftermath of the Kilmarnock defeat had been chastening for Rangers and the concerns expressed after that Morton win and, more pertinently, the victory at home to Livingston were still perfectly valid and justified. Yet Beale now stood just 180 minutes away from ticking the other two boxes that would have completed a productive start to the season.

A week on, he found himself on the brink of mutiny at Ibrox after seeing his side capitulate in the Champions League and outfought and outthought in the Old Firm fixture. Beale has previously enthused about the privilege of being Rangers manager and how he wouldn’t change his position for any, but recent days have shown just what a unique, undulating experience life at Ibrox can be even for someone as well versed and as invested in the club as he is.

The maiden month of the season has not been without achievement and beating Servette at home and then completing the job a week later – a feat that ensured the first €5million tranche of UEFA cash this season – was important in many ways. The challenge against PSV was not insurmountable but the silver linings that emerged from the 2-2 draw in the first leg were enveloped as a nightmare evening in Eindhoven went from bad to worse and then to woeful.

Rangers had budgeted for a Europa League campaign rather than a Champions League one. The difference in revenue is thought to be around £6million when all ins and outs are taken into account but the chasm in quality and the likely outcomes mean that defeat to PSV was perhaps a blessing in disguise for a team that are not equipped to compete at the highest level on the continent.

Once again, there was a dearth of new faces in the starting line-up. Jack Butland, a commanding and confident presence throughout thus far, stands as the pick of the signings but Jose Cifuentes was ineffective and rightly dropped for the Celtic match, while Cyriel Dessers has become an early target for a support that expected so much more given the investment that has been made.

Beale was strongly backed by the board as Rangers front-loaded their investment. Fees received for the likes of Glen Kamara, Fashion Sakala and Antonio Colak have been welcomed after losing one-time key assets Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos for free. The net spend, as it stands, has been put at more than £5million according to Ibrox sources.

Dessers and Danilo, who missed a sitter against Servette, have just two goals each from nine appearances. Abdallah Sima has the same number from eight outings, while Sam Lammers only has the opening goal in the win over Livingston to his credit. Beale has asked for patience and will persevere with his summer acquisitions. He has no choice but to, of course, and the qualities and the character that he saw long before cash changed hands and contracts were signed must now come to the fore sooner rather than later if his faith in them, and the board’s faith in him, is to be repaid in silverware, the only currency that matters at Ibrox.

Those that are still subscribed to Beale as the boss will give him time to get it right, and will allow him the matches to get this new side up to speed individually and collectively. Yet the days of "taking the handbrake off" seem like such a long time ago now and it is actions rather than words that will transform Beale’s fortunes, and ultimately keep him in a job.

The next tranche of fixtures will be defining for Rangers and will shape their aspirations for the season. Premiership matches at home to Motherwell and Aberdeen and the League Cup visit of Livingston are bookended by trips to face St Johnstone and St Mirren before the October international break.

READ MORE: Rangers' pressing problem exposed by Celtic in Old Firm defeat

The first two Europa League outings against Real Betis and Aris Limassol carry their own significance. If September and October are not more productive than the first weeks of the season, it will be clear where Rangers are heading in what remains of the campaign.

The early season optimism around Rangers has evaporated. It was a summer where changes – both in personnel and direction – looked like heralding in a new era but a scunnered support fear the same old mistakes will be made almost a year after the overdue departure of Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

As ever, results on the park dictate everything and shape emotions and perspectives. It overshadows every other facet of the club, be it the opening of the museum at New Edmiston House, the ongoing upgrade plans for the Ibrox footprint or the changes at boardroom and executive level that have given Rangers a fresh perspective, new ideas and the promise of greater influence and accountability.

The platitude about not getting too high when you win or too low when you lose is easier said than done at Ibrox. Indeed, it is nigh on impossible when the future aspirations are shaped by historic achievements, where the demands and the pressures heighten with every failure.

Only one of the defeats that Rangers have suffered this season have cost them an ambition. Rangers have not lost the Premiership title and Beale has not lost his job but both of those factors are, of course, intertwined.

The first month of the campaign has not gone to plan but a slow start will be forgiven and forgotten if this side are successful come the last days of the season.