THE MEN BEHIND GERRARD
One is a lifelong chum, the other a former assistant boss at Sao Paulo in Brazil as Sportsmail reveals:
ABOLD pioneer who moved halfway round the world in search of a unique footballing experience. And a childhood friend who knows the new Rangers manager better than almost anyone.
If the eye is naturally drawn to one name among Steven Gerrard’s backroom team at Ibrox, the importance of two other figures new to the Rangers football department — and the experience they bring to their roles — should not be overlooked.
Michael Beale’s confirmation as first-team coach yesterday, along with Tom Culshaw’s appointment as technical coach, represent important pieces of team building for a rookie head coach.
Gerrard was always going to surround himself with a strong unit of trusted advisers for this first step into the front line.
Gary McAllister stands out as someone with the experience to guide the new boss through his transition into a manager. But former Brazilian adventurer Beale and lifelong pal Culshaw will be just as crucial to the former Liverpool and England captain’s move from academy football to the hammer-andtongs world of the Scottish Premiership.
Beale’s back story is truly fascinating, from running his own soccer school in a church hall to overseeing player development at Liverpool, including a sevenmonth stint as assistant manager at Sao Paulo.
Having worked under Brendan Rodgers at Chelsea, rising through the youth ranks, Beale was senior development officer and head coach of the Liverpool Under-23s when he made the move to South America.
Rogerio Ceni, a Sao Paulo legend, had been impressed with him when they met on a coaching course. The South American was in his first job as a head coach and needed the footballing brain of a man whose knowledge of the game had earned him a serious reputation.
That his time in the chaotic world of Brazilian soccer didn’t last — Beale falling out with a board he accused of ‘wanting to run the team like a computer game’ — would hardly have been a shock. Instability is the only constant at even the biggest clubs in the world’s most passionate footballing country.
He looks back on his time there with fondness, arguing that it made him ‘50 per cent stronger as a coach.’ The fact Liverpool took him back in another senior youth development role upon his return from Brazil says a lot about how valued he was at Melwood.
He repaid Jurgen Klopp’s faith in him by guiding a number of young players through to the first team, most sensationally Trent Alexander-Arnold. At Chelsea, he played his part in the development of talents such as Ruben LoftusCheek. Not bad for a guy whose own playing career fizzled out before he could make the first team at Charlton Athletic.
It started when he hired a church hall in his home town of Bromley and offered kids futsal lessons at £4 a pop. He recalls only three turning up for that first session. Beale, who spent £32 on the hall, admits it ‘wasn’t the best business plan’. But it grew and caught the eye of major clubs, giving him the chance to go as a coach where he couldn’t as a player.
The fact he didn’t play at any level didn’t hold him back. He said: ‘A love for the game is the biggest help you can have. Being a player can help you become a coach but it can also hinder you.
‘Coaching is totally different to playing and it’s important you learn the skills of being a good communicator and how to plan and implement training. I have had experiences at some of the world’s biggest clubs and in the development of players. That helps me to see things in players that other coaches may miss.
‘I have inspirations as a coach; for development I would look at someone like Johan Cruyff as a lighthouse for my ideas. And Carlo Ancelotti for management of people. I think he is a master of that. My idea is to inspire the individual to improve the collective. It’s vital each player is developing, feeling comfortable in the club and improving the team.’
If Beale brings vast experience behind the scenes to Gerrard’s team, Culshaw owes his appointment to more than just friendship with the former midfielder.
Within Anfield, the former youth prospect is widely respected and his departure was seen as a blow to the club’s talent production line.
The relationship between Gerrard and his assistant with the Liverpool Under-18s cannot be underestimated. For one thing, it goes back generations.
Their grandfathers were friends, their fathers were friends, they both went to Cardinal Heenan High School and played for the same youth team before joining Liverpool. The fact one of them made it and the other didn’t — Culshaw ending up working for a friend laying driveways while Gerrard exploded into the first team — couldn’t sever the bond.
Culshaw made his own way back to Anfield through education and coaching, the former England schoolboy international — who had four years on a pro contract before being let go — soon proving himself.
Gerrard’s request that he move from the Under-15s to assist him with the Under-18s was immediately accepted. And now look where he’s ended up.
The pair have an understanding, a shared philosophy on how football should be played. Trust is a huge factor for any manager, he needs to know his staff are all working towards the same goal, using agreed methods — but still willing to speak up when they see something wrong.
In an employment sector that often seems to promise incumbents only wild swings between creeping unease and holy terror, Gerrard’s decision to pack his backroom with familiar faces is entirely understandable.
If McAllister will always grab the headlines, the contributions of Culshaw and Beale may yet prove decisive in how this great gamble on Stevie G plays out.