MICHAEL Beale has insisted he has learned important lessons from the Old Firm touchline bust-up which landed him a five game SFA ban and accepted he will have a duty to conduct himself responsibly as Rangers manager on match days.
Beale was red carded in the final minute of 2-1 win that Steven Gerrard’s side recorded against Celtic at Parkhead in the December of 2019 - the Ibrox club’s first victory at the home of their city rivals in nine years – after accusing referee Kevin Clancy of bias.
The Englishman, who was incensed that striker Alfredo Morelos had been ordered off, then squared up to his opposing first team coach John Kennedy at the side of the pitch and had to be led down the tunnel by security staff.
The 42-year-old, who was confirmed as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s replacement as manager on Monday, believes that it is important that he shows passion for the Rangers cause when he is in the technical area.
However, he conceded that he will, as the public face of the Glasgow giants, have to behave during games and expressed confidence he will be able to keep his cool as a direct result of the high-profile flashpoint he was involved in three years ago.
“The situation at Celtic Park when I got sent off was a strange one,” he said. “You get carried away and I accused the ref of something you can’t do. It was just that game, that moment. Just two minutes before I was so calm.
“For years I’d been coming up to SFA courses and one of the constants was John Kennedy. I always met him on the courses. In that moment, I assumed he said something I wouldn’t have liked him to say and I told him that.
“At that time, we felt like we were trying to take on the world. And our players had to see us with them taking on the world. I see it with Mikel Arteta with his Arsenal squad right now. They’re together and you can feel it.
“You’ve got to show passion. But you also have to know that you’re representing a lot of people. So you should never go overboard with the passion.
“Thankfully, I wasn’t the manager then. Our manager showed much more decorum than me. He’s had a lot more experience at that. I’m a little bit more mature now for that. It was part of my learning.”
Beale, who has previously worked as a youth coach at Chelsea and Liverpool as well as with the first team at Sao Paulo, Rangers and Aston Villa, was only manager at Queens Park Rangers for 22 matches this season.
However, he is adamant that will be able to handle the intense demands there will be on him to deliver domestic silverware and compete on the continent in his new position and welcomes the challenge.
“These jobs come with huge responsibility,” he said. “It’s a privilege to work in this city. It’s hectic. There’s a lot of expectation and sometimes it’s bigger than the reality in that moment.
“If you play Liverpool or Real Madrid in a Champions League tie here, people actually do believe you should be beating them. I don’t see the pressure, only the expectation. I want that.
“This club is equally as big or bigger than any of the clubs I’ve worked at before. It’s just now I’m coaching the top team, not the juniors.”
