Michael Beale reveals what he told Rangers players at half-time before Hibernian comeback
Rangers found themselves down to Hibernian at halftime, but Michael Beale’s team talk was able to inspire a comeback.
Ryan Jack and Alfredo Morelos both found the back of the net in a scintillating second half at Ibrox after Fashion Sakala kept the deficit to just one in the first 45 minutes.
Beale’s first league fixture as Gers boss started disastrously but he kept calm and composed in the dressing room to fire his squad up for a much-improved second half.
After completing the comeback and picking up his first three points, Beale revealed exactly what he told Rangers players during the break.
“At half-time, I told them to just stop for a minute. I said ‘I know the anxiety with everything that’s gone on in the last few weeks,” said Beale, as quoted by Glasgow Evening Times.
“Let’s stop and get the style right. Lets play closer together. Let’s not overthink. Let’s play fast football and counter-press hard and if we get the next goal the stadium will pick up and we will go on and win the second half 2-0′.
“They did it. We weren’t winning first balls in the first half. It’s difficult, we know we have centre-halves missing and the two boys are doing their best for the team. We have to improve in the duels and play closer together and we did that.”
Massive performance
Beale’s first match in charge at Ibrox perhaps wasn’t as pretty as some would like, but the 42-year-old got the job done regardless.
Hibernian got off to a brilliant start after Gers looked anxious and nervous on their Premiership return. Leadership and calm were needed at the break and Beale provided just that.
It would have been easy for him to berate players and try to fire them up, but instead, he took a calm approach and encouraged them to play the style of football he has been coaching over the last few weeks.
There were some brilliant performances in the second half, with Jack and Morelos deservedly etching their name on the scoresheet.
It was vital for Rangers to keep the pressure on Celtic at the top of the Premiership and Thursday’s victory cut the gap to just six points ahead of their match with Aberdeen on Saturday.
Hopefully the Hibernian victory can give both Beale and his squad some confidence and momentum going forward, with a crucial away trip to Aberdeen up next.
In other Rangers news, Dean Jones wouldn’t ‘write off’ Alfredo Morelos staying at Rangers despite his current contract situation