The Return Of Michael Beale

 There we have it, Rangers have a new manager. Michael Beale becomes the eighteenth permanent incumbent in the managers office at Ibrox.

Personally I’m delighted to see the man return after just over a year. Beale left with Steven Gerrard and the rest of his background team, returning south to Birmingham and Aston Villa.

Beale wasn’t at Villa for long. Having ignored or knocked-back several offers to become a manager in his own right, he left in the summer to take up the managers role at Queens Park Rangers in London.

He did very well in the Championship, leaving QPR in a very respectable position. Having released twenty two players that weren’t required, he brought only six new players in yet leaves them in a healthily placed seventh top in an insanely tough league to get out of.

He returns to Glasgow much heralded, highly sought after and renowned for being one of the finest coaches working in British football.

The reason for the return of Michael Beale is of course well understood. Giovanni Van Bronckhorst ultimately paid the cost of producimg some rank rotten football. You can just about get away with some dire performances but as we’re all aware, the instant you stop getting results you’re job is on the line and with respect to him, I think everybody knew where this was heading.

Nine points behind after only fifteen games left the Rangers board with a difficult decision to make. Stick or twist, so to speak, The Rangers hierarchy chose to twist leaving Van Bronckhorst out of a job.

Sad as it is to see a manager go, that was the correct decision to make. As I say, poor performances from the team are inevitable at times but when you’re failing to beat Livingston, St Johnstone and St Mirren in the space of three weeks? Your tea’s out if you’re the manager of Rangers I’m afraid.

Giovanni Van Bronckhorst leaves Rangers with a better CV than the one he had when he arrived. That’s a peculiarity when you take into account he lasted only a year in the hotseat. An anomaly so to speak.

Most managers who only last a year tend to have been an abject failure but Van Bronckhorst can leave with his head held high having won the Scottish Cup, taken Rangers on that dazzling run to The Europa League Final and also overseeing Rangers return to The Champions League after more than a decade.

Van Bronckhorst will have plenty of clubs looking at him and considering him for their head coach or managers position so in all honesty I don’t have too much sympathy for him here.

Make no mistake about it, the football on show at Ibrox most weeks was absolute dugmeat therefore when the positive results stop coming and you’ve lost the patience of the rank and file there’s aways going to be calls for his head.

The Rangers board made the call and Rangers were looking for a new manager. A few names were in the hat but realistically the first choice was almost certainly going to be the man dubbed the brains behind the Steven Gerrard revolution.

A week later and Michael Beale took on one of the biggest management roles in British football. For me personally, he was my choice to get the job when Gerrard upped sticks for the English Premiership but for whatever reason that doesn’t appear to have been a consideration for Ross Wilson.

However, Michael Beale is finally here. When Wolves came in for him a month ago I presumed he’d be an EPL manager, that would be that and any chance Rangers would have of enticing him back up north would be gone for good. I’m saying that as I expect him to be a massive success at Rangers, he’s so highly regarded that I believe this is a bit of a coup for Rangers.

My take on it is that Beale is ready for this. It’s a monumental task that awaits him to be fair but he knows what’s in store for him having been at Rangers for three and a half years under Steven Gerrard.

He’s fully aware that second in Glasgow is failure. He gets that he has to get Rangers moving immediately and ultimately he will be told his remit is to win the league as soon as is humanly possible.

That’ll be difficult due to the fact that at the moment Rangers have an ageing squad that anyone with a pair of eyes can see needs an overhaul.

This is now a transitional period for the club. A group of players that have looked to be in a state of depression since September needs incentivised immediately. Some of them need told straight that they’ve been frankly rotten so far this season and that the standards required at this football club might be beyond them, while others need coaxed into getting their form back immediately.

Getting a tune out of this band of players shouldn’t be too difficult. This is a group of players that got all the way to a European final only six months ago after all.

I have total faith in Michael Beale to just that. I’m hopeful he can find a way to get the attacking brand of football he’s been telling us he wants to see while he’s getting a number of players back from injury.

He will be assessing that squad, their attitude, their commitment, their hunger and ability. I think there’s a real strength of character there in Michael Beale, that he won’t suffer fools gladly, so in that respect it’ll be intriguing to see which players he fancies to take with him and those that he’ll discard as soon as he can.

In my mind his remit here is to close the gap at the top of the table and win at least one of the domestic cups.

There should be no excuses if Rangers end the season trophyless. Every Rangers manager has to win the league at the start of the season but there’s an acknowledgement that the position Van Bronckhorst has left him in will make that extremely tough to do so a cup win is a must, in my opinion.

Ross Wilson will need to up his game in January too. Yes, we are all aware the sales of Nathan Patterson, Calvin Bassey, Joe Aribo and Cedric Itten over the last year have brought the club the thick wedge of forty million pounds but his signings must be better.

Too many misses and not enough hits in the signing policy and I’m taking nothing away from his signings in the summer here. Players such as Tom Lawrence, Mailek Tillman, Ridvan Yilmaz and Ben Davies all look like they can seriously enhance the squad but for every one of those players there’s an Aaron Ramsay, Amad Diallo or a Juninho Bacuna.

A younger midfield is a necessity here. Whether guys like Glenn Kamara, Alex Lowry or Charlie McCann can come in and do a job for the team is open to debate but a reliance on so few ageing players in that area of the pitch from Van Bronckhorst is one of the major reasons he’s no longer there.

With funds as tight as they are at Ibrox, the money going out needs to be better spent. This is a squad that in 2019 Steven Gerrard told us needed midfielders. That is a must in the January transfer window.

Our forwards are not producing the way they should be either so how Beale sets that part of things up will be intersting. Will he go for the two number tens again like Gerrard or will he see it differently? Time will tell but one thing’s for sure, Rangers have to score a lot more goals than they were doing under Van Bronckhorst.

Defensively at times Rangers were a shambles under Van Bronchorst. Set pieces were a massive problem. The amount of free headers given away at corners and free kicks cost him and Rangers dearly so I’m happy to see that there’s a set piece coach back at the club under Beale.

Beale’s backroom staff look to be a major plus as well. Ranging from being sixty to a very young thirty three there’s loads of experience and enthusiasm there. I’m very interested to see what they bring to the club and also to see the changes Beale and his team to the team itself.

Neil Banfield worked for Arsene Wenget at Arsenal ad their first team coach for seven years so in that respect I can’t wait to see what plusses that brings.

Harry Watling has a wealth of experience ( despite only being thirty three) n the game having been at Chelsea, Millwall and West Ham along with his time with Beale at QPR.a young exciting coach who attained his UEFA A-Licence at just twenty six.

Damian Mathew has had stints at Charlton and QPR as well and brings loads to the table in terms of working with younger players and bringing them on.

Jack Ade comes in as Head of Performance. He comes from Liverpool and with a CV like his I’m more than happy he’s here to make sure the squad is in prime condition.

The appointment of Michael Beale has possibly split opinion among the Rangers support but I for one think he’s the right man for the job at exactly the right time.

He knows the club and he has a real affinity with Rangers. He and his family love Scotland and stayed in Balfron in his previous time here. This is a massive opportunity for him and with his family being settled then I would sure he will throw himself head first into fixing the issues the team have had in the first half of this season.

I’m looking forward to seeing the reaction of the players. I expect them to kick on in the remainder of the season and hopefully with the injuries clearing up and perhaps one or two additions in January Rangers can hopefully challenge on all fronts until May.

Michael Beale gets it. He knows what the club is all about and from what I’ve been told there’s no love lost when it comes to the other half of the city.

His job is to get Rangers motoring again with a style of play that is attacking and gets bums off seats. I’m pretty sure fans will be in for a bit of a shock in regards to how differently the team will play.

Michael Beale is his own man, he’s the Manager of Rangers Football Club. He has to get it right and I’m positive he will do precisely that.

Times have changed though. This isn’t the same as when Gerrard came to the club. Gerrard was given time because everybody knew there was a complete rebuild to be had. This isn’t like that, Beale will get patience but results must improve immediately.

The club has been successful over the last eighteen months. Aw League Title, a Scottish Cup and a European final mean the lay of the land is different to what it was back in 2018.

Michael Beale knows that and is fully aware of what's required. I think Rangers have made the perfect appointment. It’s up to Michael Beale to prove it.

Welcome back, Michael. Do your thing, get that team playing again and the potential to be a legend is their for you at Ibrox.

I'm delighted he’s here and trust he will be a monumental success at Rangers.