THE remarkable resurgence which Celtic have enjoyed since Ange Postecoglou was appointed manager last summer has left fans of their city rivals Rangers bereft.
Yet, Michael Beale, who has followed the fortunes of both Glasgow clubs closely since departing this time last year, has only been impressed with what Postecoglou has achieved and, more specifically, how he gone about accomplishing it.
The Englishman believes the Greek-Australian has followed exactly the same route to success as many of those who have lifted the Scottish title in the past – including his old compadre Steven Gerrard – by settling on a system, establishing a playing style and bringing in signings who can execute his gameplan.
It is exactly the path which he fully intends to go down in the coming months as he strives to make Rangers the dominant force in the country once again.
“I think Ange talks hugely positive,” said Beale. “He came in, he rode the wave of where we were and just got down to his work. He’s seen the fruits of his labour.
“I’m a career coach so I have a lot of respect for the coach of that club. He’s done a very good job so far. He’s got a vision, he’s recruited towards it. He’s followed the model all Old Firm managers have done, whether that’s Brendan Rodgers, Steven Gerrard, Walter Smith. “Whoever has been successful here, they’ve had a vision, they’ve recruited towards it then worked towards it every day. I’ve got to go on that journey and I want that journey to be very short.”
It is fair to say that Celtic have had the upper hand on Rangers in the Old Firm games since Postecoglou took over; they have won three and drawn one of the six derby matches which they have played.
That is in stark contrast to Gerrard’s tenure – the former England and Liverpool captain triumphed six times and drew once in the last seven meetings with the Parkhead club which he took charge of.
Beale knows that dropping points against other top flight rivals has damaged their title challenges last season and this – something which was a problem during Gerrard’s first two campaigns – and will be looking for his team to achieve far greater consistency when domestic football resumes later this month.
But he is keen to see Rangers, who were thrashed 4-0 by Celtic in the East End of Glasgow back in September, to give a far better account of themselves in the Old Firm games too and return to being “bosses” of the world-famous fixture.
“At this moment in time we can’t expect anything because the last couple of games in that fixture have not got anywhere near what we wanted,” he said. “So how do you get that back? Well, that takes time. You can’t just click your fingers and say ‘remember that time where we won there?’ and everyone falls back into it. “It’s fair to say we were the bosses around here back then. But it takes time to build that up. It certainly took us a couple of years to build it up. I think where we are now is really disappointing compared to where we were sat a year ago in all fairness, in the domestic game.
“Now we have to prove we can beat everyone else consistently then make that game what it is. As a one-off game when you play it it’s a rivalry, a derby, it’s got everything. It’s the best game in the world in terms of a real derby, we know that. It’s electric. “But unless you join the dots up in between you have no right to only wait for those games and that’s where we’ve fallen short in my previous time here and already this season so far. You must join the dots up in the games in between then those games become massive.
“When we were trying to win the league here I always wanted the last Old Firm not to count. In the season we won it the last two league games didn’t count because it was done. I’m sure that’s no different to the guy across the road.”
Beale added: “The European side? We’ve outperformed them because we reached a European final and didn’t we both bomb out of Europe? I didn’t think one was much better than the other. “The perception is maybe because of the interviews that were taken after the games by the respective coaches. Maybe one was a bit more honest and the other was staying on the positive. I think not all is broken around here. I’ve just got to get to work.”
Rangers enjoyed significant success in continental competition during Gerrard’s reign. They qualified for the Europa League knockout rounds two years running and laid much of the groundwork for the run to the final that Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side enjoyed last season.
Beale, who was first team coach under his countryman for three-and-a-half years, was disappointed to see the Ibrox club struggle so badly in the Champions League group stages this season. But he believes qualifying for the first time in 12 years was an important milestone and is keen to return next term. “The 50 plus games we played in Europe before we left made the team grow in belief,” he said. “Nights like beating Porto and Feyenoord made the players believe in themselves and grow.
“You take your eyes off your biggest rivals domestically and concentrate on an even bigger level of football - that only helps you come back and play at a higher level.
“The reward for Rangers and those years of getting back was the Group of Death in the Champions League. But it was everyone’s dream to go and play in it.
“If we could have maybe been a bit more optimistic in our approach, we might have ended up in the same place. But maybe we need to remember the journey we’d been on to achieve the dream.
“I was involved the year before when we threw a game away at Ibrox (Malmo) and it was the lowest we felt. Because it was our dream. Win the league, play in the Champions League, that was our dream. But we messed it up.”
Beale added: “But it was great to have two teams in the Champions League. It was hugely important for Scottish football in terms of the exposure and finance.
“The women’s league in England earns gives out more money for winning the league than the Scottish Premiership. So the only way for the game to grow is European football.”
