MICHAEL BEALE won't dismiss the data as lies, damned lies, and statistics. But the numbers will be the end rather than the beginning for Rangers.
It is a process of watching, listening and speaking, one of using the knowledge and experience built up over many years and trusting your judgement rather than your facts and figures. It is a process that Beale must master this summer.
The acquisitions of Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin in January were the first pieces of the Beale jigsaw to be put in place. Over the coming weeks, several more will have to be slotted into position as a Rangers squad and side is assembled in Beale's name and image.
Beale is now leading the recruitment drive following the departure of Ross Wilson, the former Sporting Director, to Nottingham Forest. Every pound spent must be done so wisely and the strike rate must be overwhelmingly positive if Rangers are to go from forlorn challengers to potential champions in the space of one season.
It has never been easier to scout players than it is in the game today and the information - be it video footage, detailed reports or stats and graphs - is at the fingertips of the team of scouts and analysts that are based at Auchenhowie. Beale will use that resource to his benefit but knows some things still need done the old fashioned way.
"Yeah I think your eyes, it has got to pass the test of your eyes," Beale said. "Even with all the data and stuff like that, it is eyes first and you use the data to back things up.
"Certainly not the other way around. It is important for us to have eyes on players and meeting them and doing a 360 around them.
"I think data has come into the game and it is fantastic, but when you go back to when I was here previously and we recruited Glen Kamara, who was in and out of the Dundee team at the time, it was a curious one.
"But we weren’t looking at that player playing for Dundee, we were looking at that player thinking ‘does he have the skill set to play for Rangers?’
"With the way that we play and the dynamics of our club. That went on to be a really successful one.
"And the same when you watch young players like Calvin Bassey in a B Team game or Joe Aribo at Charlton, you have to make a judgement on whether you think that boy will be successful here.
"Those three were or are successful transfers for the club. It shows you it is not always about spending money, it is about knowing what is going to fit and what the group needs."
Beale has been heavily involved in recruitment, at various levels, at each of the clubs he has worked at. He has rarely, if ever, faced a task like the one he has been presented with at Ibrox as Rangers gear up for their most significant summer since Steven Gerrard revolutionised the club five years ago.
Beale was one of Gerrard's trusted lieutenants back then. Today, the 42-year-old takes guidance from assistant manager Neil Banfield and John Park, a man who has a track record that speaks for itself when it comes to doing deals.
A description of the pair as the two wise old men is followed by a joke about how they sit and reminisce over the time when there was no backpass rule in the game. Beale knows, though, that those years at the highest levels are invaluable.
"Listen, there are people that I always bounce ideas off and people that have been around a long time, like John," Beale said. "I have one on my staff in terms of Neil Banfield and recruitment is always something I have been involved in at all the clubs I have been at.
🎙️ Michael Beale spoke exclusively to @RangersTV following the departure of Sporting Director Ross Wilson. pic.twitter.com/DlY1S6ZvtM
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) April 13, 2023
"We identify a player, I send my trusted eyes to go and see them and then they will say to me ‘You need to go now’ or ‘you need to open the dialogue and have that conversation’.
"I am someone that likes to sit in front of players and have a conversation about where they are going and making sure we are on the same page because I think that helps. I need to see how they fit in with the group.
"I think the evidence in that is the two boys that came in January, they have come in and settled well into the country, the team and the style of football. We had a lot of conversations prior to them signing.
"John is a hugely valuable member of staff. Even within my own coaching team we have got scouts and we obviously watch a lot of football."
The influence of Park over recent months has been significant. Alongside another of Beale's most valued support staff, scout Mervyn Day, Park has helped identify the targets that Rangers will now look to bring to Ibrox.
The infrastructure is greater in number and reach than it was when Beale first arrived alongside Gerrard. Park sits at the top of that pyramid and his recommendation on a prospective player is enough to make anyone sit up and take notice.
As always for Rangers, the timescales are tight and the margin for error is slim. The Champions League qualifiers just a few week later are already circled on the calendar and Beale wants as much work done before then as possible.
"I’m going to push for it," Beale said. "The first international break comes around September 3 or 4 and the window obviously shuts a couple of days before.
"By then, you’ve played five league games and possibly two or four European games. We know the start of our season is very important. It always has been.
"I remember when we were qualifying against Ufa, then Legia Warsaw, then Galatasaray. Last year it was PSV.
"Those moments are pivotal in the season because they set up the rest of the season. We have to get the squad we want in place by then.
"I want the squad in place as early as possible. We return to pre-season the last couple of days of June and I expect to see some new faces returning that day."
The number of arrivals remains a moving target. Beale has often spoken about adding four or five over the summer and there is a desire to reduce the size of a squad that is in need of a rejuvenation ahead of his first full term in charge.
Decisions on the likes of Scott Arfield and Steven Davis have still to be made public and the futures of Ryan Kent, most recently linked with Burnley, and Alfredo Morelos remain uncertain. That is before those still under contract have their situations assessed.
"I think it’s huge," Beale said of the upcoming period of wheeling and dealing. "We can see we have the foundations but it’s a big summer because there are some prominent players out of contact, some big players who have been fantastic for club over the last few years and performed well.
"But it’s natural we need to bring some freshness in. I think the fans want to see some fresh faces and energy as well. You can see how they’ve taken to the two new signings.
"It’s important as well that I feel energised about the squad we’ve got – that I think we can achieve the targets ultimately we are setting ourselves.
"We’re setting targets to win things and go and play in the Champions League again. It’s fair to say the current squad might have to outperform itself to do that. So it needs help."
There has barely been a week that has gone by where Beale has not been asked about his recruitment drive or the contract status of so many members of the squad that he inherited from Giovanni van Bronckhorst on his return to Ibrox.
Beale has been counting down to the summer for some time. Sooner rather than later, he will have the chance to put all the planning into action and finally lay the foundations for the future.
"I had no choice about when the offer came," Beale said when asked if it will be a relief to be able to get on with the job. "Certainly as a manager you’d prefer to come in at the start of pre-season and put your ideas across with good time and some warm up games. Get the group fit, see what players you can move in and move out.
"I came right in the middle of a storm, if you like. In the main I’ve been pleased with how it’s gone. There’s only been a couple of days of real disappointment.
"A lot of things have not been a shock to me. We have changed from one very strong chairman to another so I don’t see that as anything people can write down. We have moved from a strong chairman to a vice-chairman who I have a really good relationship.
"The only surprise I’ve had was losing Ross as sporting director, but me and Ross were very clear on where the club needed to move forward and we’d already identified a lot of the players."
