Michael Beale was seen as the quiet man in the background during the early days of the Steven Gerrard Rangers era. A tactician who was the brains of the operation alongside the bigger personalities of Gerrard and fellow playing legend Gary McAllister.
Gerrard was the motivator having possessed all the characteristics to rally a dressing room from his years as an inspirational captain at Liverpool and England. McAllister also wore the armband for club and country during a glittering player career.
But it soon became clear that while softly spoken south Londoner Beale might be more measured he isn’t short on passion. And it all spilled over in none other that a trip to Celtic when emotions often run high. The then Ibrox first team coach – on the brink of returning to Govan as Gers boss – was involved in angry confrontation with Hoops counterpart John Kennedy during an incident-packed 2-1 win for the Light Blues at Parkhead, the first win for Gers at the home of their bitter rivals in almost a decade.
Beale was shown a red card by referee Kevin Clancy during that match in December 2019 and later handed a five-match ban by the SFA with two of those suspended. He later confessed the punishment was for his words rather than actions, though.
He said at the time: “I called the referee's integrity into question and have accepted that I could not not accuse him of cheating. The incident with John was nothing and is now resolved.”
However, that kind of passion – channelled in the right direction – is what Rangers fans will be hoping to see if he lands the dug-out gig with one criticism of Giovanni van Bronckhorst that he din’t show enough emotion on the touchline.
Celtic coach Kennedy played down the row at the time, saying: “It probably looked worse than it actually was. He was having more with the officials than he was with me. There was nothing in it. There was no confrontation between me and him. There was a bit of verbals, nothing else. But he and the officials were having a bit together. We had a wee bit of toing and froing very briefly, but nothing major.
"I know Michael very well and I have done since before he came to Rangers. He was in trouble with the officials, there was a bit of verbals, that’s it, end of. You have seen it numerous times with managers and coaches. The emotion of the game gets the better of you sometimes. You say some things, you move on.”
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