Ideas, innovation and inspiration.
Graham Dorrans saw it all from Michael Beale at Rangers. His only regret is that he didn’t get to experience MORE of it while he was there. The former Ibrox midfielder was at the club when Steven Gerrard arrived as gaffer in 2018 and brought unknown quantity Beale with him.
For most of that first season, Dorrans was injured and got precious little time on the training pitch. But every day he’d peer out the gym window and marvel at Beale’s sessions. He says the Londoner did EVERYTHING at Rangers when Gerrard was manager. And Dorrans insists the coach was a huge part in the club’s eventual 55th title success three years later. While Gerrard was the figurehead, Beale was the brains behind the tactics that saw Rangers reborn at home and in Europe. The Queens Park Rangers manager is frontrunner to become the club’s new boss after Gio van Bronckhorst was sacked last week.
Dorrans believes he’s the right choice and insists he’s unlike any coach he has ever worked under. He told MailSport : “I was injured at Rangers a lot of the time but I’d watch Mick’s sessions every day out the window of the gym at Auchenhowie. I’ve always said this – through my whole career – he’s the one coach that I really wish I could have worked with more.
“I’m disappointed I didn’t get a chance to learn more from him. Watching from that gym window, I used to think, ‘He could actually help my game and improve me as a player. I’d have loved to have benefitted more than I did during his time at Rangers.
“I could see right away his ideas were top notch. Gerrard was in the background. And without being disrespectful, he was the face of the club. When Mick came in, he wasn’t as big a name as Steven Gerrard. When the manager walked in, everyone sat up and took notice because of who he was. But everyone in the building quickly realised that Beale was there to do it all. He was the man with the answers when it came to coaching and tactics. You saw that with how Rangers started to play, culminating in the season when they won the title.
“Mick’s coaching style is very good. His ideas are different and innovative. He has worked at big clubs, been in Brazil and in England – so he has experienced a lot. At Rangers, he was the one who did everything on the training pitch. He had all the coaching ideas and, under Gerrard, every session was put on by Mick.
“I really wish I could have worked more under someone like that.” Beale was instrumental in Rangers adopting a 4-3-3 system under Gerrard. But unlike the conventional formation, their wide players played narrow in attack and were given licence to create. Dorrans says that was down to Beale and it’s why a player like Ryan Kent really began to flourish at Ibrox. He said: “I like a coach to coach and that’s what Mick did. He was brilliant at it. Players bought into his ideas and knew exactly what he wanted.
“The sessions he put on were different and boys like Kenty really benefited. One of Mick’s ideas was the two No.10s – wide players who didn’t stay wide but came inside. That was different but it helped Kenty and Rangers. Normally with a 4-3-3, the wide men played as wingers. We saw that a lot under Gio.
“But Mick was big on the two 10s and coached boys like Ryan to play that position. It’s a cheat position in football so you need clever ideas to make it work. Mick managed to implement that as soon as he came in. Some coaches in the game nowadays don’t actually coach enough.
“They don’t give out enough information to the players. But Mick is someone who does. Under him, you know your job and everything you should be doing. You take his ideas from the training pitch into games. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Even when I left Rangers, watching the team, I could see what was happening on the pitch was stuff Mick had worked on.”
If Beale does replace van Bronckhorst there will be more pressure on him as gaffer. But after a short stint in the English Championship at QPR, Dorrans believes he’s ready to take on the role. After seeing first hand how much the 42-year-old bought into the history and tradition of the club, he’s convinced he would do well.
Dorrans said: “It’ll be different for him being Rangers manager. But if Mick gets the job, I’m certain he will still be out coaching on the training pitch every day. In terms of dealing with the managerial side of it, I believe he can do that as well.
“He’ll bring in his own team and I don’t see any issues. Mick can do all of that stuff, 100 per cent.
“It helps that when Mick was here he bought into the club and culture at Rangers. You need to do that. He was the only one on the coaching staff who brought his family up to live in Scotland. That’s massive. He really enjoyed living here and he became a Rangers fan. That can only help if he ends up making his return to the club.”
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