Michael Stewart is urging new Rangers manager Michael Beale to forget about questions over his loyalty following the move from Queens Park Rangers.
That is because the BBC Scotland pundit believes the only 'currency' he needs to be concerned about are victories. Beale was announced on Monday as the Light Blues' 18th permanent manager in their history, succeeding Giovanni Van Bronckhorst who was given his marching orders earlier this month after just over a year in charge at the Ibrox helm.
Now Steven Gerrard's former right-hand man is in the hot-seat for himself, and Stewart says Rangers fans won't be concerned about the reported distaste for the manner of Beale's Loftus Road exit. He believes the Ibrox crowd will be far more enamoured with victories, and the task of cutting the gap on a rampant Celtic side.
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He told the Times: "Having just pledged his allegiance to QPR he could claim some deniability and insist nothing should be read into his visit. It certainly threw me off the scent. I genuinely thought there was no way he would turn up at a club where the manager was under pressure and have any intentions of taking the man's job. How wrong I was! Football can be such a cruel business at times.
"Football is an incredibly fickle business and, undoubtedly, there will be QPR and Wolves fans feeling they are better off without Beale. On the flip side many Rangers fans will happily ignore these issues and focus on the "special" connection their new manager has with their club as the reasons he has returned and remember fondly the improvements made while Beale was at their club first time around.
"In the hotbed of Scottish football, some thrive while others wilt. We will soon find out which category Beale falls into. One thing is for certain right now. Integrity and loyalty count for nothing in this business. Victories are the only currency that count. For Beale those wins have to come quickly."
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