Sky Sports pundit questions Michael Beale integrity with Rangers backed into corner
Rangers have “backed themselves into a corner” with Michael Beale who “did a runner” from Ibrox a year ago, according to Kris Boyd.
The former assistant to Steven Gerrard left the club last November to follow the ex-Liverpool captain to Aston Villa before taking on the manager’s job at QPR in the summer, but is now the frontrunner to take over the number one role back in Glasgow.
However, Boyd has plenty of misgivings over the return given the 42-year-old’s exit this time last year and his reasons for turning down the Wolves job a month ago, suggesting the “integrity and loyalty” that he was so big on has gone out of the window.
In his Scottish Sun column he said: “Beale turned down the Wolves gig last month and his comments at the time struck a chord.
“He said: ‘Integrity and loyalty are big things for me. If they are the values you live by, you have to be strong.I’ve been all in here and I’ve asked other people to be all in, so I can’t be the first person to run away from the ship.“I don’t think we are anywhere near where QPR want to be. There is a lot to do and I am excited by it.’
“So, what’s changed in four weeks?
“Don’t forget Gerrard was slaughtered by a large section of the support when he left for Villa.
“Yet Beale also did a runner to the Premier League with him 12 months ago.
“From the outside looking in, it appears Rangers have backed themselves into a corner over appointing GVB’s successor.
“It seems odd they would put all their eggs in one basket.
“There seems to only ever have been one serious candidate and, for me, that’s a worry.”
Suspicious
With the official approach apparently now in at last Rangers are another step closer to filling the vacancy they created in sacking Giovanni van Bronckhorst on Monday (21 November).
The bond between the Ibrox hierarchy and Beale appears to be very strong, as it is believed to also be with many of the players who won the 55th title with him.
Despite a number of other names under consideration it certainly feels like Ross Wilson has been honing in on Beale from the start.
And there are a couple of red flags that could come back to bite him if this doesn’t all work out, not least the risk of another exit along similar lines as Gerrard’s if Beale shows good early progress and one of the bigger Premier League sides comes calling.
His 22 games in charge of QPR were excellent to start with but more recently have been pretty poor, so there is very little to go on to judge what he could do in charge at Ibrox.
There is still time to get the appointment sorted before the squad returns to training on Monday but it has taken days for an official approach to be made, and assuming Beale is the man who gets the job he will need to provide some strong early results to help put doubts to rest, not least in the Old Firm derby on 2 January.
In other Rangers news, at least one figure at Loftus Road has now admitted they are nervous about losing Beale to the Bears.