Michael Beale is planning a Rangers squad cull this summer, insisting he has too many players and doesn't want to ‘devalue’ the Light Blue shirt.
The Ibrox gaffer added just two new faces to his squad during the January transfer window in the shape of Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin. And it seems the priority at the end of the season will be trimming the fat. Taking into account his young guns out on loan, Beale wants a core of seven or eight stars who will play most weeks, with the rest providing support to them, as was the case during his time at Liverpool and English Premier League pace setters Arsenal this season.
“We have too many players in my opinion,” Beale said. “There’s a reason we’ve carried one or two more, we’ve had injury problems and we’ve had to supplement that. When I say we have too many, we have young players out on loan as well."
"So when pre-season starts they’re all back in the building. I want all the players to have clarity in their role in the squad and it’s difficult the more players you have.
“If I look at the top teams in the top leagues, like Arsenal at the minute, they have the most consistent eleven and I know from being at Liverpool when they won that was the case as well. When we won the league we had a core of seven or eight that play.
“With the amount of subs in the match day squad now I want everyone to feel engaged and involved in the squad. I want everyone to feel their best days are in front of them and to know the pecking order to get in the team and what role they’ve got.
“If I look at Fashion Sakala and Todd Cantwell, they’ve rotated the last few games and are completely different so they are competing for the same role but there will be certain games that suit Fashion more than Todd and vice versa so they’re aware of that because it’s been spoken about. Players like honesty and clarity and that’s my motto.
“The last few weeks only having 18 fit means I’ve not had to leave anyone out of the squad. It’s not shying away from the job, I just think every player is engaged.
"If you have a second team behind your first team then you probably need one more goalie and one more number 9. Within that you then have hybrid players like Hagi, Tillman, Kent, Arfield, Kamara, Nico Raskin. Players who don’t always play in one position, it gives you more options.
“We look for that in players, those hybrid qualities and it benefits us. We see it in the past with Calvin Bassey.
“We don’t need any more than that and if there are young boys around it then wonderful but we don’t want to devalue the shirt or expectations.”
Uncertainty still clouds the futures of Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent, Both are out of contract, as are Allan McGregor, Ryan Jack, Scott Arfield, Filip Helander and Steven Davis. And Beale admits new deals could still be handed out based on how the rest of the campaign goes.
He told Rangers TV: “In terms of the players that are out of contract there are a couple of things really. You’ve changed manager so ideas might have changed. There’s the personal form and health that’s important and the other is how the season ends.
“The fans are in that part of how the season ends. If players really show up well in the last 14/15 games and we’re in one cup final and hopefully in another and if the players play well there the fans will be desperate for them.
"If between now and the end of the season the form drops off and we have some difficult days then the fans and the club might have to look in a different direction so everything is up in the air so my job is to get us in a healthier position than we found ourselves in November.
“We’ve done that but everything has to be decided. We’re back where we should have been, now we have to go deliver for the fans.”
Even if Kent and Morelos decide to move on, they’ll go with Beale’s best wishes. He added: “I love both of them in different ways. My relationship with Ryan is spoken about a lot. When I went to Liverpool in 2012 he was in my team there and our relationship has been attached since then.
“The thing with Ryan is he gives the team so much out of possession. With every player, if you don’t play for us out of possession then you don’t play. That’s a rule we have and it’s why sometimes we make changes if we’re not happy with the intensity.
“Ryan is always 100 per cent to his teammates. People speak about him scoring more goals, Ryan wants to score more. They want him to get more assists, Ryan wants more but one thing his teammates will never throw at him is his work ethic.
"I love the bones of him and he’s at a moment in his career and age where he has an option and a decision to make. We’d very much like him to stay. If Ryan really wants to be here and has the energy for the next three or four years. If there is anything off or he feels he’s been here then no problem, he’ll get the biggest hug in the world and walk out of the front door.
"It’s the same with Alfredo, there’s a misconception about him compared to the boy I work with every day. We’ve always had a really strong relationship through my terrible Spanish but since I’ve come back he's been fantastic.
“He’s matured a lot. He’s our record scorer in Europe, we’ve won leagues and cups and got to the Europa League Final with him. Whatever decision is made, he needs to walk out the front door. That’s what my communication has been with both boys.”
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