Michael Beale set Rangers three targets for the first stage of the campaign. Two of them were missed and the next batch of ambitions will now define his season and determine his future.

The win over Morton that secured a place in the last eight of the Viaplay Cup ticked one of the boxes for Beale. But the defeats to Kilmarnock, PSV Eindhoven and Celtic have undermined Rangers’ Premiership title challenge and cost them their place in the Champions League this term.

Beale has survived the international break and will be in the dugout when his side return to duty against St Johnstone on Saturday. Time will tell if it is the afternoon that kicks Rangers into gear or is the latest stumble that sets Beale down a road that only has one destination.

The manager needs results and performances, and quickly. Here, The Rangers Review assesses what must be done in the coming weeks if the Ibrox boss is to transform his fortunes and his side’s aspirations.

The need for momentum

A trip to McDiarmid Park is the first fixture in a sequence that carries huge significance for Rangers. Seven matches, across three competitions, will be played in less than a month and there is a sound theory that anything less than a win in every outing will be deemed unacceptable at Ibrox.

Indeed, it could be argued that Beale’s side must be perfect in the Premiership between now and the next Old Firm clash in late December. With a four-point deficit to make up following the derby defeat earlier this month, Rangers can ill-afford to fall further behind Celtic in the standings.

Matches away to St Johnstone and St Mirren bookend this run for Rangers and will be tricky, potentially treacherous outings for a side that have already lost at Rugby Park and that are under intense pressure having painted themselves into a corner in the top flight.

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Rangers showed last term that they were able to take care of business on a regular basis and wins at Pittodrie, Tynecastle and Easter Road came during a lengthy unbeaten run that ended with a defeat at Parkhead. Beating the rest and beating the best are, of course, very different matters.

Beale now needs another prolonged period of Premiership successes and the visits of Motherwell and Aberdeen are chances to put points on the board and appease the home crowd. Four league wins would take the sting out of the situation but it would only be a start for a side that have so much more to prove in the coming weeks and months.

Europe and the League Cup non-negotiable 

One of the main differences between the schedule that Beale inherited last season and the situation that he finds himself in right now is the lack of European matches on the calendar. This is his first experience of managing that dynamic as a boss in his own right.

The visit of Real Betis kicks off the Group C campaign and Beale’s side will return from Limassol before heading to Paisley next month. The double header with Sparta Prague that follows will go some way to determining their fate and whether or not they will be in continental competition after Christmas.

Overcoming Servette was non-negotiable for Beale. At the next stage, PSV proved more than a class above as Rangers were left embarrassed in Eindhoven and suffered a 5-1 defeat on a wretched night.

Rangers recovered from both of their defeats to Napoli and Liverpool last term by picking up Premiership wins when they returned to league action. On those occasions, Dundee United, St Mirren, Motherwell and Aberdeen were beaten.

This time out, the Europa League provides the chance for momentum to be built rather than destroyed and confidence to be gained rather than crushed and six points from their first two outings would put Rangers well on course for progression from the section. It would also quieten Beale’s critics.

Like all Ibrox managers, Beale will be judged on what he wins. The quarter-final with Livingston in a fortnight is, therefore, one of the most important matches of his tenure and – with Celtic already knocked out - Rangers simply must lift silverware at Beale’s third time of asking.

Finding a consistent starting 11 

In the nine competitive matches that Rangers have played this term – with a record of four wins, three defeats and two draws – Beale has chosen nine different line-ups. That inconsistency in terms of selection has resulted in varying performance levels and results.

Beale has spoken of the importance of building relationships and finding rhythm, especially from middle to front, but that process must surely have been hampered by the chopping and changing in terms of personnel. The accusation has become that Beale doesn’t know his best team, but he will counter that by insisting that players needed game time to get up to speed and that every match must be treated in isolation when it comes to an approach.

Jack Butland has established himself as first choice since arriving this summer, while the back four of James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, John Souttar and Borna Barisic look like being selected more often than not.

Further forward, Beale has plenty of options to choose from and he must decipher the most effective partnerships from middle to front as a matter of urgency. Jose Cifuentes should be a starter in a central berth but Kieran Dowell has been omitted from the Europa League squad.

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The front three of Danilo, Cyriel Dessers and Sam Lammers were selected in successive matches against Servette and Livingston but have not been seen from the start since. The other recruit in a revamped forward line, Abdallah Sima, has shown flashes but nothing substantial.

There are certainly jerseys up for grabs at present. Sooner rather than later, the core of a team must be picked and persevered with as Rangers look to move through the gears this term.

Unlocking his summer recruitment 

Beale opted to spend his budget in the forward areas and the significant outlays on Danilo, Dessers and Lammers must be repaid sooner rather than later if the Ibrox boss is to salvage a season that could quickly snowball out of control.

Butland stands above the rest as the pick of the nine signings. A commanding presence between the sticks, he has quickly become a leadership figure and there is every chance that Rangers will face a fight to retain the 30-year-old at the end of the campaign.

The rest of the recruits are much of a muchness, to be honest. Leon Balogun is a back-up at centre-half, Dujon Sterling is not a starter and Dowell has not featured since the draw with PSV after sustaining a knee injury that Beale described last month as a ‘slight problem’.

It will take time for Cifuentes to acclimatise to the city and the club but the Ecuadorian is a player that Rangers have high hopes for, both in terms of what he can bring to the team and the value that he could go on to reach in the transfer market. He could be a coup for Rangers.

The focus is rightly on the big money that has been spent as Beale was backed by the board. Lammers hasn’t brought enough to the party thus far, while Dessers and Danilo have just two goals each from their nine appearances this season.

This summer was Beale’s window to overhaul the squad and assemble a side in his name and his image. If his signings don’t repay his faith, it is he who will pay the price.

Put the plan into practice 

Winning is all that really matters at Rangers. Yet it is important that it is done with a certain style as well and Beale’s side have fallen short in both regards.

The 4-0 win over Livingston is the most comprehensive victory of the campaign but two goals in the final six minutes from Sima and Dowell added a shine to the scoreline. Before that, Rangers had laboured, and it took Danilo’s 78th-minute effort to ease the Ibrox nerves after a Lammers opener.

Heading back down from Dingwall with a 2-0 success and a clean sheet marked a positive afternoon for Rangers but Beale’s side capitulated days later in the Philips Stadion and the criticism in the aftermath of the Old Firm defeat didn’t just focus on the result in what was a must-win fixture.

Once again, it was hard to determine what Beale was trying to do with the team and how a stand-off approach was supposed to trouble a Celtic side that were there to be attacked. It was a bizarre setup and it felt like Beale was hoping for some individual inspiration rather than crafting a comeback as he introduced three of his new forwards, Ridvan Yilmaz and Tom Lawrence after the break.

Van Bronckhorst was ridiculed for the ‘horseshoe’ approach as Rangers moved the ball from side to side and were devoid of dynamism. In contrast, Beale offers his players creative freedom and licence, but Rangers still look like a group of individuals rather than a team that is the sum of its parts.