For the staff Michael Beale had inherited at Queens Park Rangers, when he asked whether he could attend a recruitment meeting and say a few words there was a hint of nervousness.
It was his first managerial job and they weren’t sure what to expect, but the scouts need not have worried. They sat back as Beale delivered a one-hour presentation that quickly allayed any fears.
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He had put together an extensive document especially for them and ran through every detail himself. It explained exactly what he was looking for in each position, the age blend he was trying to create in the squad and even included training ground drills showing how he works on the shape of the team and how that feeds into the attributes he requires.
It was said to have blown away the scouts in attendance as they had never experienced such a detailed brief before. The clarity in his communication skills was the other thing that impressed — when he addressed them individually he had a way about him which made them feel as if it was a one-on-one conversation.
Making people feel important and having an open and honest relationship with them has been key to Beale’s style of coaching for over two decades now.
Even on his first day at Rangers on Monday, a delayed session which came after the players had reported to Auchenhowie to have their base conditioning measurements assessed, he stressed that he is “all in” and that he expected the same commitment from his players or they won’t be part of his team.
In laying the ground rules and preaching that he wanted his players to enjoy their football again after watching them go through the motions the past two months, Beale was looking to stamp his authority on the group.
That is the big unknown in hiring a manager with just 22 games as the main man, even if he was instrumental in the progress made under Steven Gerrard for three and a half seasons.
Having a presence or an aura is one of the intangible ingredients that seems to be regarded as of greater importance for a Rangers manager than at most others clubs.
Gerrard, former England and Liverpool captain, brought that in spades. He was the face, the leader, the standard-setter who provoked a smidgen of fear with just one look.
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Beale did virtually all of the coaching on the grass and took a lot of the meetings. That is not to dilute the importance of Gerrard’s role as he was self-aware enough to build a coaching staff which complemented each other, but he was considered by many to be the main catalyst in the gradual transformation after their arrival at Ibrox in 2018.
Being a master coach and wily tactician is a crucial strength in the modern game but, while it is unfair to expect anyone to bring the same command as Gerrard, does he possess the other qualities that are required to be manager at Rangers?
According to those who have been coached by him, being forthright is not going to be an issue. At Rangers he was not shy in telling players what he thought of their performance but he was also a very hands-on man-manager who aimed to strike the right balance in being hard but fair.
“He’ll dig you out but then put an arm around you, talk to you and make you feel amazing after it,” is how his effect is described.
Those who have worked with Beale and have seen him up close all remark on how the clarity of his instructions and the respect he gains quickly from the players come from the clear knowledge he demonstrates on the pitch every day and how well he is able to articulate and put it into practice on the grass.
He wants maximum commitment in every session as the method behind each one is explained to the players in terms of how it relates to the style of play and their game understanding. He does a lot of work on possession from the middle third to the final third, working on finding the ball into the front man and having third man runners after it is set back.
One thing for sure with Beale is that is that he knows exactly what he thinks and he is not afraid to put across his point.
At Aston Villa the confidence in his own ability was clear for everyone to see as soon as he arrived last November. He took control of training instantly and impressed the same way Rangers players commented on when it came to his attention to detail.
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It may have left some staff feeling slightly disconnected, but Beale has no qualms when it comes to taking the wheel. Some players felt the precision of the messaging wasn’t as crisp once he left for QPR but Beale felt he was ready to experience the pressure of results being on him.
Beale’s 20-year coaching journey from the rejection he experienced as a Charlton Athletic apprentice to the Rangers manager has been told by The Athletic.
His reputation in coaching circles around the world is great as foreign players who leave Rangers are often asked by coaches in their home country for details of his sessions, while Beale himself is very open in sharing his way of working, as one young Scottish coach who messaged him on LinkedIn found out when he received an hour-long phone call to discuss coaching and his own career plan.
As a teenager, he was an elegant winger whose technical ability meant he found football so natural that, once he had to transition to senior football, he struggled to adapt to the demands of the other side of the game.
He used that as fuel to drive his coaching career, paying £32 a week to rent a church in Bromley to put on Brazilian Soccer Schools classes for kids as his first job.
Colleagues of Beale’s say the fact he has coached every age of player — from five-year-old kids having fun to 19-year-olds trying to break into the first-team, 27-year-olds looking to mature their game and 40 year-olds adapting to prolong their career — gives him a unique perspective.
Beale likes to build bonds with his players and, when it came to signings at Rangers, the recruitment team operated an inclusive way of working in which all members of the coaching staff could contribute with names they were familiar with.
He remains connected to players he has worked with previously and when there is an opportunity to work together again, and it’s beneficial for both parties, he looks to put that mutual bond to good use.
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At QPR he brought in many players he had worked with when they were at academies, having kept an eye on some for years to see how they developed.
Portuguese midfielder Joao Teixeira was coached by Beale at reserve level at Liverpool and still thinks fondly of him.
“I actually thought his style of coaching was very European,” he says. “It was closer to Portuguese or Spanish football (than the English stereotype). There was more technical work.
“Sometimes things didn’t work out for me. Maybe I had a chance to go on a loan and it didn’t come off for some reason. I would get frustrated. Sometimes I could have given more in training. Mickey would always make a point of helping me. We would talk the problem through and he would get my head back in the right place.
“He would say, ‘OK, things haven’t happened like you wanted them to, but life goes on. You need to work hard, because you never know what could happen next month or next year. Maybe an even better opportunity will come along’. That was something I went through in the reserves and he always cared. He wanted to understand and help.
“He had his ideas, but he always wanted to know what we thought, too — whether it was about football, life or anything. He always wanted to hear our opinions, our feelings. That’s just what Mickey is like.”
Northern Irish full-back Ryan McLaughlin will never forget how Beale sat down with him after training once to chat about his career, what he wanted to get out of football and how he could help. He is 28 now and still never had another coach do that, which made him realise how much he cared about his players as people too.
“The under-21s was his first managerial job and it wasn’t a senior team so I don’t know if he would be different, but even with us you wouldn’t dare cross him,” McLaughlin says.
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“He’d be close with you and friendly but you knew there was the other side. He was very good with players who weren’t starting, which is a big thing as it’s easy to just focus on the starting XI, but his attention to detail with every player was the exact same.”
Beale will need to put every little lesson he has learned over 20 years of coaching and the tricks he has picked up since working permanently in senior football the last four and a half years.
He spoke confidently in the Blue Room at Ibrox about how his ideas have evolved and the culture he wants to create, but he also sought to be his own person and state that he will lead in his own way.
“Steven (Gerrard) has been a huge influence on me as a person because he has very high standards and morals,” said Beale at his unveiling on Thursday. “The time I worked with him has enabled me to be sat in a position like this. He brought me on a lot in terms of management and leadership. I added a different part to that management team in terms of coaching on the pitch but I don’t want to compare myself to anyone.
“I’m sure he will go on to be a fantastic manager with his staff but this is the start of a new journey and there will be subtle differences.
“Neither of us were overly close with the players in terms of being friends, but they certainly knew that we cared for them every single day. We built strong feelings with our players and that’s the way you have to go. I’m going to still be very hands-on with the players as that’s my skill set.”
(Photo: Steve Welsh/PA Images via Getty Images)
