There are some who believe Steven Gerrard left Rangers in the lurch when he upped sticks for Aston Villa a year ago. The man who worked closest with him throughout the Scouser’s three and a half years at Ibrox is having none of it. Michael Beale, now manager at QPR after quitting Glasgow for Birmingham with Gerrard, looks to the four point lead Rangers enjoyed over Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic as proof that the team which had gone the previous campaign unbeaten in clinching their long-awaited 55th title was left in good shape.
So good, in fact, he is adamant a second title in a row would have been delivered had Gerrard and Co ignored the lure of the English Premier League. That, Beale insists, is no slight on Gio van Bronckhorst, who took over and couldn’t maintain the lead as Celtic overtook them to win the league by four points.
Speaking on the latest edition of BT Sports’ Currie Club podcast - recorded before a string of results at home and in Europe have left van Bronckhorst fighting to hold onto his job - Beale reflected on his time in Glasgow and insisted Gerrard’s coaching staff, himself included, would return to the club at some point in their careers if given the chance.
“What a football club,” he said. “And what a group of people that are around it and support it. It’s an institution. Anybody who was part of our staff who had the opportunity to go back there, they would in the future. It had a massive hold on us.”
The memories of a year ago are bittersweet, however. Not getting the chance to say goodbye to the Rangers players and staff still hurts. “Things happen so quickly in this game,” he added. “We never got a chance to say goodbye and that was horrible. I remember having to send a message via Tav (James Tavernier) to the players’ group because what players do you call out of 30? Do you make 30 phone calls? We were also mindful that we had to be respectful of everybody else’s feelings at the time.
“I can only talk about my own personal situation. I had a number of offers in the time I was at Rangers, to be a manager, and it was a dream or an aim. I know the manager had resisted a number of really good opportunities. It’s not my place to say the clubs and the names but Steven was very loyal to Rangers.
“At that moment he had to weigh everything up on a personal level. He shared with us his decision and then people chose. Every window and break that we had in the last six or eight months, people came for different members of staff. Do I think we could have taken it forward? I definitely think we would have won the league. When we left, we were still four points in front. There is no way they (Celtic) would have come past us.
“We hadn’t lost in eight or nine Old Firms (it was actually seven). The next one was maybe in the post because in a two-horse competition anyone can win in any derby. But the games weren’t particularly close. They might have been in the scoreline but when you were in the stadium, we were very much in control of every game.
“What I would say is that the manager who went in (Postecoglou) is a very, very good manager and a very good coach. They were going to improve, but so were we. We weren’t planning on standing still. We’d evolved subtly over time. The mentality at the time was no one was stopping us.”
Beale revealed that he didn’t truly enjoy the celebrations on the day Rangers won what was to be the only trophy of Gerrard’s tenure - the title in May 2021 at the end of an Invincible league campaign - because he believes the treble should have been in the trophy cabinet.
“I’m still disappointed we didn’t win more,” he says. “I mean we went the whole season unbeaten and I remember the day we won it, going around angry. I think back now and think: ‘just have a beer Mick, enjoy it.’ But I was angry we hadn’t won more. Fifty six games and to lose three - and only two of them in open play, including European games - to come up with one trophy was difficult to take.
“I remember the next day, driving home and getting a bit emotional. I was a mess and I know everybody else was. I took a lot of stuff for the children with 55 all over it, the big crest and all that. My two boys were playing PlayStation and they just said: ‘Alright dad?’ That’s kids - bring you right down to earth.”
Beale has been credited for masterminding the Rangers tactics during Gerrard’s reign but he is adamant the Liverpool legend took all the strain off him, allowing him to do his thing on the training pitch. “Steven took the pressure for all of us,” he says. “I don’t think anyone else could have done what he did. You don’t realise how far you are behind (Celtic) until you’re in.
“There was no pot of gold. I’d have thought there would have been more guarantees regarding finances. The club did everything it could, all the time and were so supportive of us in everything we changed behind the scenes. But I was a little surprised that Steven took such a big gamble. I was thinking there would be more money.
“But he and Gary (McAllister) took it on more than me. I was able to stay fresh and could just go and work with the players. Gary took it on as a Rangers fan and Steven took the whole thing on. The memories will last forever. We look around Europe and say: ‘look at that atmosphere’ but I don’t think you need to look much further than Glasgow. In all fairness, it’s both sides of the city. I think they are two wonderful clubs.”
In a great new series Record Sport has teamed up with BT Sport to bring you highlights from their new podcast ‘Currie Club – The Scottish Football Sessions’, hosted by Darrell Currie. The latest episode, out now, features Michael Beale. The episodes are available every Friday for free across popular podcast platforms. ‘Currie Club – The Scottish Football Sessions’ is part of a new line-up of podcasts, BT Sport Pods, from BT Sport. Visit btsport.com/pods
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