Michael Beale on Hagi Rangers return and slams disrespectful claim

Here is everything he had to say.

Can you give us a squad update and also Borna Barisic?

In terms of Borna, they’re back home in Croatia. I think they had a parade yesterday which is obviously worthy of the achievement they had as a small country. I thought they were fantastic in the World Cup. We’re hoping he will be back for the Motherwell game. In terms of injuries, nothing really to report from the game the other day. We’ve sent Steven Davis for a scan. We’re hoping it’s only a slight issue. He will be the only player that won’t play tomorrow, along with Kemar Roofe in terms of the players that have been back training. Connor Goldson will come back into the squad for tomorrow.

Do you expect Aberdeen to adopt a similar approach to the one they displayed against Celtic?

I’m unsure, to be honest. You try to prepare your team for everything. I watched the game, I thought both Aberdeen and Celtic played in a good game where you saw all of the sort of patience and the work that Ange has been doing with Celtic over the last year in terms of how they played the game. I thought you saw an Aberdeen team that had a game plan and were close to executing it. There were a few close moments in the game when they were lucky not to concede. Whether Jim thinks that’s the way to go against us. I was at the game at Ibrox, what, six or seven weeks ago, and obviously we played very well in that game. You’re unsure, you just prepare your team for everything you can. I’ve been up there and had some feisty encounters in the past but it’s two new managers now. Obviously, that was under Steven and Derek and they were fantastic – I thought they were everything that was good about Scottish football. I’ve enjoyed going up there and will enjoy going up there. I hope it’s a good game.

Could it be a good test of your attacking credentials?

Yeah, we can see where we’re at. We’re going to have to use what we’ve got in the squad to find a solution to open the door. I won’t give you any secrets right now but I think the way we played in the second-half against Hibs will create chances against every team in this league so it’s important we start where we left off on Thursday. I was pleased with the second-half in particular.

Will Antonio Colak be available?

No, he won’t be available until Friday.

Can you draw on past experiences at Pittodrie to inspire the current team?

That team was able to keep clean sheets, I think that’s going to be crucial. Thursday last week, we had five senior centre-backs missing and two senior left-backs. I was delighted. Going into the game I didn’t think everything was going to be perfect. I didn’t think we’d concede with the very first ball into the box but that team was able to keep clean sheets consistently. After that game (in 2020) we went about seven or eight without conceding. This team needs to have that as well. It needs to know how to grind it out and win ugly at times.

Is Ryan Kent a perfect fit for you at the club?

He might be sick of me, he’s known me since he was 14. On a personal level, it’s nice to work with Ryan, he’s the kind of player that I like. He’s very two-footed. He’s somebody that you’d tell your academy players to watch because he can go both ways. I’d like him to be a bit more free, I think that’s fair to say – I don’t like him to play on one side of the pitch, I like him to have the license to roam. You’re right, he’s coming into his best years. Let’s hope that those best years are here at Rangers.

READ MORE: How Rangers broke Hibs' defence with half-time changes

How big a test will Aberdeen be?

I think it’s important that we continue with our identity. I thought first-half we saw an anxious team, an anxious crowd. When you concede early and then right after scoring I just thought it was important we focussed on the way we play in the way we’d discussed in training. We did that in the second-half. At this moment in time, that’s the most important thing for us – to try and get performance happy. That will double up with results. I certainly don’t want to go all for the result with no style or substance because I think over a while we might get tripped up with that. It’s important we get to the style we want as quickly as possible.

Can you expand on Steven Davis’ injury problem?

Just a landing in training. He’s got to have a scan. I don’t really want to elaborate on that. We should get the results today.

What are your thoughts on the criticism of Aberdeen’s display against Celtic?

I hope they change it as that would give us some more space, but that’s their prerogative. The one thing I would say is, what I love about this league is that managers in Scotland, none of us get the ready-made players. Whether that’s Ange or myself, none of us buy the ready-made product. So that’s why I think there are so many good Scottish managers. You have to work with the players that you’ve got week in, week out. You have to develop them. With Aberdeen and Jim, I think they’re moving in the right direction. I think they’ve got a young player, who I know, in Leighton Clarkson, who’s a good young player and I think the boy Duk who has come in from Portugal has done well too. I’ve seen a difference in their style since the last time I was here. Whether he feels it’s the right tactics to go that way again or to open up a bit, that’s down to Jim. We’ll just be ready for whatever’s off the back of that.

Importance of defending set pieces

The other day we didn’t have to defend from open play but we had to defend from set plays. We failed at the start. It’s been a big problem for the team for the last few months. Then off of counterattacks, we had a few problems. They are two areas that we have to be good at if we’re going to be a possession-based team. If you’re going to put the amount of players in front of the ball that we do then you can’t have sloppy turnovers. We have to be very good in our pressing and transition and at set plays, we need to stand up, be big and take responsibility. We got caught out with that in the first 15-20 minutes on Thursday but we improved in the second-half so I’m not going to beat them on the head. We’ve had a chat about it. Any one of that five of Goldson, Davies, King, Souttar or Helander would’ve helped. We had two central midfielders and a young left-back, who’s a right-back, in defence. Going into the game, everyone is aware that’s not a Rangers back four if you like but the boys went out and played. As the game went on, what I would say is that having centre-mids at centre-back actually helped us in our build-up and speed in possession.

How important is the character and resilience of the team going to be with the fixtures coming up?

It’s a mentality week. We’ve got the two longest journeys in Scottish football back-to-back in three days before Christmas so it’s an interesting fixture list. I know this game was obviously moved. I think if you go away from home and you have to show something slightly different to what you have to at Ibrox. Maybe teams will be a little bit more open, their fans will push them to come and attack you. I actually think they give us great opportunities when that happens. Both Jim and Malky are two coaches, I’m quite friendly with Malky as well so I expect two really tough games but it’s one game at a time. This first one and we need to start off where we ended the game on Thursday night.

(Image: NQ)

With Connor Goldson back in the squad, how crucial will his leadership qualities be?

Well, he’s a strong voice. I think we all saw that in the season when there were no fans in the stadium. All you could hear was Connor moaning but that’s actually quite a good thing because he gives the personality to the team. Football teams now, in general, are quiet. He’s someone in the last 250 or 260 games for the club who has nearly played 99 per cent of them so when you have a player so consistent in terms of selection, when you lose him for four or five games it does rock the squad especially when the other centre-halves change so much. The left-side centre half has not been as consistent at the same time so we’re delighted to have him back in the squad. Whether he and Ben are able to go full tilt for 90 minutes we’ll have to see. Then we have the game on Friday coming thick and fast. My focus at the minute is two things really. It’s to give the team real clarity on how we want to play, to make us hard to beat and also it’s to recover the injuries that we have because in my three-and-a-half years here previously we never had a situation like this. Last week we probably had an 11 unavailable as strong as the 11 we had on the pitch. Now, if they’re all available it makes a strong Rangers here in training and into the games but at the moment you would say we’re more vulnerable than what we have been in many a year.

How much confidence does that give you that they could be back for the second half of the season?

Huge amounts. The other day I used the term ‘other team’. Listen, I’m new back in the country I didn’t get where I am being disrespectful to anybody. I was asked a question that we were nine points behind and my answer was we had to win and the other team had to lose some. That wasn’t in any way disrespectful, I want to cut that short where that is. I’ve got no issue with naming the other teams' names, Celtic, Aberdeen, Hibs or whoever it is. No way am I ever going to be disrespectful. Between now and the end of the season we have to win every game including three Old Firms and pick up the goal difference to get in front. We know it’s a tough ask so the bigger thing around that as well is can we get the team playing and looking at how I think football should look? Can we look together? Can the players look like they’re happy playing for the shirt? Are they together? And are the fans when they’re watching their team play, are they excited by their team? Is their alignment right the way through the club? That’s the job for me and my management team. But that bit the other day, I don’t like that because it’s not what I am. That was a very innocent comment and it's been taken too far. I’m a coach that respects coming back into this league because I enjoy it. There are very good managers in this league. No one in this league gets to buy a ready-made player, everybody in this league has to have a development plan. What Ange Postecoglu has done in his time is very impressive. It’s important now we get back on the journey I had here previously with Steven and we become impressive as well.

READ MORE: Ianis Hagi can rescue Rangers trajectory under Michael Beale

Do you put the number of injuries down to just bad luck?

There’s been a lot of change in style. There’s been a lot of change in the management team from the previous manager to Gio to me coming in. There’s been a change in the medical department and there’s been change in players coming in. All of that probably tells you that you need to get to know each other’s bodies and there needs to be a consistency in training. In and around that there are just elements of bad luck that happen in terms of contact injuries. The more consistent everything is around the players in terms of training and staff I think that will even its way out. That’s certainly what I’m hoping going into the new year and around the next international break I’m hoping that we’ve got every player fit and available and then we can really judge where this squad is at. Until then, we know our mentality’s got to be top, we’ve got to fight for every game, every three points and we have to take the weight of the shirt with a big smile on our face and the privilege that it is.

Where is the team for you at this moment? Are the players where they should be and how do you rate the progress to where you want them to be at this point?

Only 45 minutes in if I’m honest. There was a lot of the first half that made me realise, there’s a lot of work we’ve got to do. The Bayer Leverkusen game was a nice game but what I found in that first half the other night, it was very forced. Therefore, the biggest thing I was pleased with was the ability to take on board the information at halftime and the fact that we were the stronger team in the second half. We looked like the fitter and stronger team, as well as the game, went on. Where we are at the moment is 45 minutes into a long, long journey. I’m going to try to make it up as quickly as I can. The players are really eager to take on the ideas as quickly as they can. We’ve got two games in the next four or five days so let’s see how we get on away at Aberdeen. We need to make sure if we’re not at our free-flowing best we show our qualities in terms of being able to keep clean sheets and to win ugly at times. For me, the key thing is the time on the training pitch. That’s not coming in until after the new year schedule so until then it’s about conversations and just re-motivating the team to go out there. We’re really looking forward to this week. It’s a big week where eyes are going to be on us so it’s a great opportunity for us to make sure that we impress people and not keep the questions coming in the background.

Is it fair to expect Ianis Hagi to return to full training towards the end of January time and what kind of role can you see him playing in your team?

He’ll play a big role when he’s fit. He’s a player I have a lot of belief in. I think he’s a very good player in this league. I would say mid to backend of January. He’s in light training with the group unopposed at the moment doing a lot of work in isolation in terms of building his fitness. He’s been a year out, there’s a lot of muscle loss and things like that that he has to go through returning. We’re just delighted. It’s great for the group that he’s out there, he’s very well-liked and if we can get him back towards the backend of January/start of February we’ll be delighted because he’ll be available for the last 15 to 18 games of the season.