Beale might be the next best thing – but he’s not a sure thing
It is fitting for the times that Rangers appear to be making a nod to the importance of recycling in the appointment of their 18th permanent manager.
With the expected selection of Michael Beale, they have not chosen to go back for someone who has held the post in the past, as they did with Jock Wallace in 1983 and, more recently, Walter Smith.
The Englishman’s three-year spell working under Steven Gerrard – who some have touted for a return – arguably make him the next best thing.
However, with his experience of managing in his own right at QPR limited to just 22 games – a run that includes five defeats in the last eight matches – Beale cannot be considered a sure thing.
What he undeniably brings to the role is intimate knowledge of what it takes to succeed in Scotland.
He was, after all, part of the coaching team that delivered the 202021 Premiership title to the club.
And if the biggest positive about the success was the negative it delivered to their rivals – it torpedoed Celtic’s 10-in-a-row dream – it was nevertheless a startling achievement in its own right.
Rangers finished that league campaign undefeated having won 32 of their 38 games played, including all 19 of their home fixtures.
A record 26 clean sheets helped deliver both a total of 102 points, and an enviable goal difference of plus-79.
Those statistics explain the confidence Beale expressed when claiming that if he and Gerrard had stayed in Scotland, they would have been able to see off the challenge from Ange Postecoglou.
Logic tells you he has to believe that, otherwise why would he consider taking on a post that will see him go head-to-head with the Australian in an environment where second is nowhere?
There are, of course, exceptions to the rule.
Rangers’ efforts in reaching the Europa League Final last season, and winning the Scottish Cup, kept Giovanni van Bronckhorst in his post.
Only for so long, though, with the failures of the current campaign the catalyst for the Dutchman’s sacking soon after the first anniversary of his appointment.
Given the highs of the road to Seville, and the first Scottish Cup success in 13 years, it seemed a little harsh.
Had Aaron Ramsay scored his penalty or Ryan Kent taken his chance at the death, the club could have beaten Eintracht Frankfurt to become the first Scottish outfit to win a European trophy since Aberdeen in 1983.
Under those circumstances, it is hard to imagine the Board taking the same action as they have now carried out.
At the same time, they do have a duty to do everything in their power to prevent Celtic mounting a successful defence of their title.
If they believed the Dutchman was no longer able to motivate his squad – to the point where they could not sustain a credible challenge – then the onus is on them to try to find someone who can.
Recent domestic results present an argument for that being case.
What the directors will have known – but is unseen by outsiders looking in – is what the relationship between the manager and his players was like on a day-to-day basis.
There have been rumours of fall-outs with key men.
As another former Rangers manager, Graeme Souness, has pointed out, when teams are winning everyone is happy. It is when the opposite is the case that you get problems.
He was the club’s eighth manager before quitting for Liverpool with four games left of the 1990-91 season.
The fact it took the club from 1899 to 1986 to get to eight, and the subsequent 36 years to get to 18, speaks volumes.
About the change of culture from the days of Bill Struth, who was in charge for 34 success-filled years from 1920 on, and of failed recent gambles on men like Paul Le Guen and Pedro Caixinha.
If the names of those two is enough to send a shiver down the back of most Bluenoses, surely equally alarming is the fear that Beale, if appointed, could do well in the role – yet still come up short against a rival now carrying formidable momentum.