This is a time of change in Glasgow but not at Celtic, who have continued on their path under the management of Ange Postecoglou by signing Yuki Kobayashi and closing in on a deal to bring Alistair Johnston to the club. Changes are taking place at Ibrox though, who recently showed Giovanni van Bronckhorst the exit door and have replaced him with Michael Beale.
Beale was a highly rated part of Steven Gerrard’s coaching staff and had since gone on to take his first steps in management as well, at QPR.
But when the call from the Rangers came, he took it and marked his return to Ibrox, despite the fact that they find themselves nine points behind Celtic in the Premiership table. In fact, the Hoops have been warned about Beale and his experience of ending the dominance of the Glasgow giants.
As reported by the Belfast Telegraph (via Football Scotland), Gareth McAuley said:
"“Having worked with Mick during my time at Rangers, I view him as the real deal in terms of coaching, man-management and his vast knowledge of the game.“He knows the club, the league and knows what it takes to end the dominance of Celtic.”"
Celtic sent Beale warning by former Rangers star
McAuley spent his final season in football at Ibrox before hanging up his boots and it looks like Beale certainly made a very positive impression on him during that short period of time.
It will be very interesting to see how Beale does in the Ibrox hot seat because he quite certainly does not have a lot of experience when it comes to managing and only had 22 games under his belt at QPR before making the move.
It is safe to say that managing the Rangers is going to be a whole different ball game. Yes, he knows about the pressure already, but being part of a coaching team and being the manager are worlds apart.
His time at QPR was decent at best. When he left, they sat at 7th in the Championship table and had been knocked from the League Cup in the first round itself. They were also on a five game winless run.
At the same time though, it would be a mistake for Celtic to take Beale lightly before even seeing what he can do. People made the same mistake when Postecoglou arrived, and see how that has turned out.