Michael Beale admits the lessons learned at Rangers are helping him in his first job in management as he backed his old Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard to turn things around at Aston Villa ahead of a huge clash with Nottingham Forest.
Beale left Villa Park in the summer to take over at QPR and has the Londoners flying high as they sit joint top of the English Championship. However, it’s not going so well for the man he left behind with Villa sitting 16th in the Premier League after just one win in their last six games.
But Beale’s departure – he was replaced by former Blackpool boss Neil Critchley – could have been a factor in Villa’s struggling start with the 42-year-old a key part of Gerrard’s coaching team from his time at Ibrox. Beale was regarded a the brains behind the Liverpool legend’s time in charge at Rangers where he was assisted by Gary McAllister and won the club’s first Scottish Premiership title in a decade.
Beale told talkSPORT: “Steven and Gary gave me a lot of confidence in times when it wasn’t going so well at Glasgow Rangers. I was the lead coach in training and they kept me on course by speaking about their own experiences and where they thought I was as a coach.
“They gave me a lot of confidence. I saw the way they carried themselves, their standards. I still speak to Steven two or three times a week and share ideas. We offer each other good luck in texts and stuff. I took loads from them.
“I had 250 games as an assistant to both Steven Gerrard and Regerio Ceni in Brazil and both of those guys helped massively to bring me in because they enabled me to manage the coaching staff, plan a lot of the sessions and lead from the front.
“I felt like I was overly equipped for the job. I’ve been schooled really well. I’ve worked in some wonderful football clubs with good people around me that have helped me. I’m aware of the support I’ve had. I was working with some really good people with Steven, Gary and the staff so I wasn’t actively looking to leave but the opportunity came to me.”
Beale remains positive about the situation he left behind despite criticism mounting for Gerrard. He said: “I read that Steven has won nine or 10 in 30 and if you look at Aston Villa over the years then that would be the average. People get carried away a little bit because he’s a big name but there are other managers in the league who haven’t had that record over the last 30 games. I get it but in the summer he had a change in coaching staff and that takes time and the two big signings haven’t been available.”
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