GERS BOSS TIPS HAT TO MENTOR GERRARD

Michael Beale hailed Steven Gerrard as “a huge influence” on his career as he thanked his mentor for giving him a platform to go on and become Rangers manager.

The 42-year-old Londoner worked as an assistant coach under the former England and Liverpool captain for threeand-a-half years at Ibrox and then for another six months at Aston Villa before he branched out on his own to take the reins at QPR in June.

Beale feels indebted to Gerrard for helping him develop to the extent that he was headhunted to become Rangers manager this week following the sacking of Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

“Steven’s been a huge influence on me as a person because he has very high standards as a person, very high morals,” he said as he was unveiled to the media for the first time at Ibrox yesterday.

“The three-and-ahalf years I worked with him here has enabled me to be sat in a position like this. He brought me on a lot in terms of management and leadership.

“I think I added a different part to his management team in terms of the coaching on the pitch.”

Beale said he had Gerrard’s “support” as he embarks on his own journey as Rangers manager, but said there are likely to be “subtle differences” in how does things.

“I don’t want to compare myself to anybody, Steven’s himself and I think he’s going to go on and be a fantastic manager with his staff,” said Beale.

“This is the start of a new journey here now and there will be subtle differences.

“Neither of us were overly close to the players in terms of being friends but they certainly knew we cared for them every single day and we certainly built strong feelings with our players.

“I’m going to be very hands-on as a coach on the pitch for certain because I feel that’s what my skillset is.”