TRIED & TRUSTED
Colak still has opportunity to revive Ibrox aspirations despite Beale admitting he is on hunt for two strikers
MICHAEL BEALE is in the market for at least two strikers this summer but stressed that does not mean early-season sensation Antonio Colak will be shown the door. Beale has refuted suggestions he isn’t a fan of the Croat and expressed a desire to have him back fit and flying like at the outset of his Ibrox career.
Colak hit 14 goals before the end of October, including the vital strike in Eindhoven that clinched Champions League qualification. But since Beale replaced Giovanni van Bronckhorst, the striker has featured far less and only registered three goals.
The Rangers boss is at pains to point out that’s on account of persistent injury setbacks. And while Colak, who penned a three-year deal when signing from PAOK for £1.8million last July, has announced a partnership with a new agent and has been tipped for a sale, Beale said the aim is to nurse him back to his Rangers best.
Beale said: ‘We will be looking for more than “a” centre-forward. We are looking for “centre-forwards” for next season.
‘Moving forward, there will be competition coming into the squad and Toni will fight it out with those guys.
‘His goalscoring record gives me optimism. If he has a good pre-season, then I will get the Antonio Colak we had in August and September.’
Even the Colak who turned out the last time Rangers travelled to Easter Road would more than suffice, one suspects.
Today’s return to Leith triggers memories for Beale of arguably the most complete 90-minute performance from his team. Up front that March midweek was Colak, who scored twice in a 4-1 win — with Beale later suggesting the margin of victory could easily have been double that, so fluid and dominant was the display against Lee Johnson’s side.
Yet those strikes remain the Croat’s only two Premiership goals since October, with a series of fitness setbacks in the second half of the season putting the brakes on what had promised to be a goal-laden campaign.
Ahead of the fourth and final meeting with Hibernian today, Beale was keen to stress that the striker’s luckless spell of injuries — and not any distrust of his capabilities — is behind his continued absence.
‘Toni scored two goals against Hibs and he was fantastic that night,’ recalled Beale. ‘He played up front with Fashion Sakala. That was as good as we have played under me.
‘Ryan Kent played behind with Todd Cantwell, so I have no issue with Antonio’s style. He’s just not had an opportunity to get a run of games.
‘Alfredo (Morelos) has been injured, so has Antonio. So we have had to play “the striker who is fit”. His goalscoring record gives me optimism. For Antonio’s first season at Rangers, in terms of starts, his goal return is fantastic.
‘The reality is, since November, he’s had an on-off time with injuries. Does he have a future? Yeah. He will have to take on the challenge like everyone else.
‘I want to drive competition in the squad. He won’t shy away from it and he backs himself. If someone does not want competition, then they aren’t at the right club moving forward.’
Beale is targeting experience in preference to potential in his hunt for a centre-forward or two.
When asked to describe what type of striker he’s seeking out, Beale explained: ‘When we play in Europe or big games, every player must take part in every minute of the game. I like the forwards not to be one position but to interchange and move around and have a lot of freedom.
‘Whenever we’ve done well in Europe, every player takes part in all aspects of the game and that’s the big thing. We want energy, we want speed, we want personality. If you want to be a No9 here, you need to have that.’
Beale has been face-to-face with multiple prospective signings, just as he was before securing mid-season swoops for Cantwell and Nico Raskin.
Return visits are key, he says, to establishing if the player will complement the quality and endorse the culture he has in mind. The Rangers boss added: ‘In the last few weeks it’s been busy as I have travelled extensively to have meetings with players in person.
‘With Todd I had three meetings. Same with Nico. The players want clarity from me; I want clarity from them. It also gives me a feel for the relationship we will have.
‘You meet them once and everything is rosy but you have to stay in the room and keep asking questions. I enjoy that part of it. I’m aware that if I don’t get them right, then the fingers will point at me — not someone else.’
John Lundstram and Borna Barisic have another year remaining on their deals but Beale expects their long-term futures resolved later in the summer.
Rangers are keen to avoid a repeat of the
Morelos and Kent situations, where two top performers were able to run their contracts down.
‘They will go away over the summer and weigh everything up and then we will have a chat,’ said Beale.
‘I’ve spoken to them both and they know what I think and where I’m going with it.
‘For senior players like those two, they want to see where we are going and to see if someone is signed in their position. I want to see they are still performing at a level where I think we can go on a journey.
‘They have both, in the main, performed well. Those talks will be towards the back end of the summer.’