GOLDSON OPPORTUNITY
Beale reveals how chance conversation led to £3m capture of influential defender who is now at Rangers for the long haul
CONNOR Goldson was a bedrock of Steven Gerrard’s tenure at Rangers. Now, after signing a new four-year contract earlier this month, the centre-back can provide Giovanni van Bronckhorst with similar assurance over the seasons to come.
If Goldson sees out this deal, he will be 33 and one of the longestserving Ibrox players of recent times. Clearly, the Wolverhamptonborn player has bought wholesale into life in Glasgow. But how did he first end up at Rangers?
Michael Beale has now revealed the back story. And the part that a chance conversation played in getting Goldson on board in a £3million transfer.
Now manager of QPR, Beale was newly appointed as first-team coach at Ibrox in the summer of 2018 when Gerrard was scanning the market for defensive reinforcement.
Enter Liam Rosenior, the experienced full-back who shared a dressing room with Goldson at Brighton and was just about to retire from playing.
‘When we recruited Connor, it was via a conversation I had with a friend of mine who was playing with Connor at the time,’ recalled Beale.
‘I wasn’t aware of him so much before. But I recommended him to Steven, we sat and thought about it and Steven went down to meet him. Who was the friend? It was Liam Rosenior. We were on a course together. Liam asked if I’d seen this player at Brighton, he’s really good.
‘I said I roughly knew him but not well enough to jump off a cliff right now. I went away and we spoke about it in-house and we all liked what we saw.
‘I believe Steven had done a game for TV in which Connor had played, so there were a lot of little things that came back.
‘We were delighted he came up and he’s done ever so well since.
‘So Liam Rosenior was a scout then for Rangers. He’ll probably kill me for telling you that!’
Goldson had undergone heart surgery in 2017 after a routine scan flagged up an issue, but those concerns have been left far in the past through his stalwart status at Ibrox.
‘Connor has been fantastic,’ said Beale. ‘You’ve got to remember we recruited a player who wasn’t playing, who’d had a heart problem the year before and who has gone on to play literally 98 per cent of the games for Rangers afterwards.
‘So when you’re going through that medical and the recruitment process, there will always be questions from the outside — from media and fans about why this guy hasn’t been playing football.
‘But you have to trust your instincts and more often than not we got it right for the outlays we made. You’re not going to get everyone right. But, in terms of Connor Goldson, we struck gold there.
‘I’m absolutely delighted that he’s signed another four years. I think it was essential for Gio and Rangers moving forward.
‘But I also thought it was important that Connor re-signed as well because I think that he’s had a great time. He’s been riding the waves of Glasgow — the good and the bad, the up and down, the criticism and then the euphoria of doing well.
‘He’s come out of it all as a real leader. I’m delighted for him and his family that they will be staying in Glasgow.’
Recruitment will now be an essential part of Beale’s plans to progress QPR, investing all the lessons learned at Ibrox and a subsequent seven-month spell under Gerrard at Aston Villa.
‘Ever since I started coaching at Chelsea in 2002, I’ve been heavily involved in recruitment,’ said the 41-year-old, reflecting on his grounding at youth level.
‘I was involved in recruitment at Liverpool and at Aston Villa and Rangers recently, because you have to recruit to the style.
‘When we were going to look at Glen Kamara playing at Dundee and you sign him believing he can be a big player, there’s a bit of a sell there. A lot of trust has to be involved but you are bringing Glen for a specific role in the team.
‘You can see how much Calvin Bassey has come to fruition, Joe Aribo, Ryan Kent. There was an outlay for Ryan after the loan period. But he came off the bench at Bristol City where he hadn’t been playing. So how was he going to come and be a main player at Rangers?
‘You need a clean eye for how you want to play. I’ll need to use that now at QPR. It’s similar in terms of maybe not having the finances to go and outlay, so you have to cherry-pick and you have to know how you’re going to play and bring players in that complement it.’
One player Beale has inherited in West London is Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes, who made a £2m move from Livingston in 2020.
‘I liked the bully he was up in Scotland, the player who bashed into players a bit and got around,’ added Beale. ‘He has done well, coming down here. Last year was disrupted by injuries but I look forward to working with him.
‘I think the best is still to come. If we can get the best out of him that can only be good for QPR and then for the Scottish national team.’