MICHAEL Beale insists he wants his Rangers side to ‘win in style’ after being appointed as the 18th manager in the club’s history.
The Englishman joins from Queens Park Rangers after making a big impression during his spell on Steven Gerrard’s coaching staff between 2018 and 2021 as Rangers proudly lifted their 55th league title.
Speaking in his first exclusive interview to RangersTV after becoming Light Blues boss, Beale insists that the remit is clear as he charts a path to success at Ibrox: “I want to drive standards, I want the players to drive the standards after I have done it. I want to lead from the front and, as I say, I am here to win, nothing else, I want to win and I want to win in style and I want to make people happy and proud of their football club.
Beale was a key member of the coaching staff which helped guide the Gers to their 55th league title success in 2020/21, while he also appreciates the scale of the team’s more recent achievements in reaching both the UEFA Europa League final last season and lifting the Scottish Cup.
He continued: “It means I know what it took to get there, before that it took a lot of hard work and a lot of hardship as well. Sometimes when you have a big low the next thing that happens you have your greatest high.
“I learned that from Steven Gerrard, those were his words to me in a difficult time here. I want to mention Steven because he is a great friend, and obviously the journey I had here before and the reason I am perhaps back here now is because he brought me to the club in the first instance. He did a fantastic job in that period.
“Gio came in and won a cup and got to a Europa League final which was an unbelievable achievement. He took us all on that journey as fans of the club and he greatly excited us all. There were a number of players here who have been on both of those journeys in the last 18 months. We have won a league unbeaten, a Scottish Cup and played in the Europa League final so this group of players in my eyes are winners and it is important we continue to win moving forward.”
The Gers boss will be keen to hit the ground running ahead of next month’s mid-season friendly clash against Bayer Leverkusen at Ibrox, with the side set to host Hibernian on the resumption of league action in a little under three weeks.
He added: “[The break in action] will be extremely beneficial. We know at this moment in time we are missing some key players through injury. It is important to get them back quickly because our squad will be a great deal stronger for that.
“It is going to be a mini pre-season in terms of ideas and identity and I want us to be on the front foot, I want us to take the handbrake off and I want us to go for it every single week because I think that is what makes this crowd get excited and, as I said, that is the most important thing. The fans come to watch their team win but they also come to be entertained and it is important we do both of those things.”
After experience as first-team manager at Queens Park Rangers, Beale also insists that he is eager to use the current break in competitive action to get his ideas across on training pitch, which he admits have evolved since his previous spell at Ibrox.
He continued: “I am looking forward to it, I am looking forward to getting on the training pitch and working with the players again.
“There are a lot of new players that I am excited to work with that I feel have got huge potential for this club, there are players that were here previously under me that will have an idea of how I want to work. The ideas have changed and grown a little bit, there's more variety, there's different ideas I have that I am excited to work with them on and I can't wait to get started.”