Michael Beale spots change in attitude from Rangers forward Abdallah Sima as he settles at Ibrox
Michael Beale believes that he saw a change in Abdallah Sima’s attitude during Rangers’ 4-0 win over Livingston in the Viaplay Cup.
The forward impressed in front of the Ibrox crowd on Wednesday (27 September) as he controversially opened the scoring having appeared to foul Jamie Brandon in the build-up, but despite the complaints of Livingston the goal was allowed to stand.
Sima, who joined on a season-long loan from Brighton this summer has, like most of the new arrivals at Ibrox, taken some time to settle. However, Beale believes that the forward has already shown signs of his development during his short time in Glasgow.
As quoted by the Daily Record on Friday (29 September) he said: “I thought Abdallah was eye-catching. He has just turned 22 and there’s a player in there. He got bought for a lot of money [by Brighton] after his Europa League run a few years ago [for Slavia Prague] but he’s a young boy and has taken time to settle. You can see his attributes.
“He is a little unselfish at times and the first goal was a change of attitude and mentality we want from him. It was a fantastic finish and he might have passed that in other games.
“We’re learning about him. He can play wide right, wide left, through the middle and has been eye-catching in the last few games. He has scored in big Rangers games in Europe and hopefully, the fans really take to him.”
Progress
It’s safe to say this Rangers team under Beale remains a work in progress, whether that be as a collective or as individuals they are by no means that finished article and the Ibrox boss is still trying to discover how best to use the players at his disposal.
But his recent comments about Sima suggest that there is some progress beginning to be made on the blue half of Glasgow as Beale’s coaching is starting to show not just on the training ground but also during matches for the Light Blues.
For Sima to be a successful striker for Rangers he is going to have to have that selfish streak, all of the best forwards in football have that drive to score goals themselves rather than wanting to assist or find a teammate when they’re in a good position.
As Beale said, he has already scored some huge goals in Europe since making the switch to Ibrox this summer so Sima is more than capable of being a success this season. Now he has to show that he can do it week in and week out for the Light Blues and that change of mentality and attitude wasn’t a one-off.
In other Rangers news, Jo Potter is eyeing silverware with her Rangers side ahead of their Sky Sports Cup opener