Rangers summer transfer plans addressed by Michael Beale

Here is everything he had to say.

What do you want the team to look like?

I think if there was a big billboard outside of Ibrox saying ‘what does this Rangers team look like?’, you can only play the way those players allow you to play. Our team has always been a team that has a lot of relationships on the pitch. It’s got to have a lot of combination players, you’ve got to give them some freedom. When I think of this team, I’m saying now that you have Ryan Kent, Raskin, Tom Lawrence, Todd Cantwell or whoever you want to put on this billboard in terms of that’s the Rangers that’s going to be here for the next four or five years. How are they going to play? What’s the best way to get the best out of them? There’s got to be a big feeling out there on the pitch. I’d like us to play vertical a little bit more, and I don’t mean being direct. When we played Hearts I think you saw it for what I want it to be. I want us to have elements of surprise and I want us to have competition in the squad. We’re not able to go and spend a lot of money so we have to spend our money cleverly and we have to have a real feeling in the changing room. For the 60 games plus that we have to play every year, we need two for every position and we need three in the number nine position. Where do you get that competition? In our squad, at the moment we have that competition in the front six positions but probably not so much in the back end due to injuries. I would certainly like us to run forward and break the lines more. If I’m looking at football at the moment and the best teams, certainly having worked in the Premier League, it’s the speed which is something that catches you out. Maybe in the Champions League, we saw that first-hand as well. There’s a view for the way I want us to go. The billboard thing I think is interesting because in our Rangers movie if you like – the season – they are our actors, the players. So you have to find a recipe for them. As a manager, you have your ideas, the club and the players. You just have to blend the three as much as you can. I’ve seen it in moments. I thought the game here against Celtic in the second half we saw it and we saw it at Hearts for a whole 90 minutes.

Are Nico Raskin and Todd Cantwell the model of player you’re trying to bring to the club?

We have to look for opportunities early. If a player is young we need to get there early because if they start doing well we’ll get out bidded by teams in the big leagues. We have to understand we’re maybe not buying the finished product and he’s not going to have everything you want him to have or you’re going to find a player that’s maybe at a moment in his career where he’s lost a little bit of direction or the situation he’s in is not ideal and he needs a change. I’ve not been able to work with young Ridvan yet who is 21, Nico’s come in who’s 21, Malik’s a star player at 20 and Todd Cantwell’s come in at 24. All of a sudden the team looks younger and has a little bit more legs. When I came in the first interview I gave I said I didn’t think it was as broken as other people thought. If it would’ve been as broken as some people were making out then no one would’ve wanted to come to Rangers and we know that’s not true. What we’re trying to do slowly is show the strength in the squad again. It’s important when players get an opportunity they don’t waste the opportunity. That goes back on the individual but it is a team game so it’s important every time we play we respect the challenge in front of us and we do each other justice.

Potential summer squad changes?

We have too many players at this moment in time, in my opinion. There’s a reason why we’ve carried one or two more due to injuries, to supplement that. When I say too many, I look at the amount of boys we’ve got out on loan right now too. So when pre-season starts they’re all back in the building. I want players to have real clarity on their role in the squad. It’s difficult the more players you have. If I look in the top leagues and top teams, you look at Arsenal at the minute, they’ve had the most consistent 11. I know from history, being at Liverpool, when they won that was the case as well. When we won the league, we had a core of seven or right that played. For me, with the amount of subs that we can have now in a matchday squad, I want everyone to feel involved and engaged in the squad. I want everyone to feel like their best days are in front of them and they know what the pecking order is to get in the team. They know what role they’ve got.

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If I look at Fashion Sakala and Todd Cantwell, they’ve rotated in the last few games. They’re completely different, so they’re not competing for the same role, but there will be certain games that suit Fashion more than they suit Todd and vice versa. They’re aware of that because it’s been spoken about. Players like honesty and clarity if you give it to them upfront. That’s my motto. Therefore, in the last few weeks, only having 18 fit, means I’ve had to leave no one out of the squad. That’s not me shying away from the job, I just think that every player is engaged. The big thing for me is, if you have a second team behind your first team, you probably need one more goalie and one more number nine and then within that you’ve got hybrid players. Hagi is, Malik Tillman is, Kent is, Scott Arfield is, Glen Kamara is and now Nicolas Raskin is. Players that don’t just play in one position, they have these transferable skills. That gives you more players again because it gives you more options. John Lundstram is another case, Ryan Jack too. We look for that in players. These hybrid qualities. Not just one position players. I think that really benefits us. We saw it in the past with Calvin Bassey at left-centre-half and left-back. So, I don’t think we need any more than that. If there are some young boys around it, wonderful. We want to give opportunities to them. But we don’t ever want to devalue the shirt and the expectations that we have for the shirt. When you’re a youth team coach, which I was for many years, you start thinking that a 19-year-old is quite old and that we need to get them into the first team. Then you become a first-team manager and trust me, 19 or 20 looks young when you think they have to go out and take on the expectation of this crowd and this shirt. What I try to do is deal with everyone on an individual basis. That’s why you need a management team, it would be too much for me on my own.

Have you identified your signing targets?

The goalposts move and some players may be out of our reach come the summer because they’re good players and we know where we are in the financial food chain. As soon as the Premier League clubs lurk or teams in the big three or four leagues, it’s difficult. We offer a player a real unique opportunity to win, to play under great demands, to play in a fantastic stadium and a really good training facility so we offer a certain amount. Each person has a decision to make based on their family situation because of contracts and it’s a short career so we understand that. I think right down the spine of the team I would like to continue to build the Rangers for the future. Not taking any person who’s been on the journey who’s doing well and is a big mainstay right now but every team has to evolve. Just bringing in the two new guys has given everyone a lift, just getting Ianis Hagi back fit has given everyone a lift, Kemar Roofe, the level in training has gone through the roof and ultimately we will see that on the pitch. Like most managers we all say the same, ‘It’ll take three windows, 12 players,’ but when you’re in and get some good results you think maybe four or five and if you’re not doing so well, maybe 15, 16. I think what’s certain is if you’re changing over 20/25 players over two or three windows then there was something wrong before you came and I didn’t think there was too much wrong with Rangers before I came in. I just think for whatever reason we had a difficult three or four months and it led to a manager change.

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Do you expect a busy period between now and the summer in terms of contract negotiations?

The better work is done between the windows. When the window opens loads of possibilities come your way that wasn’t necessarily in the plan and I think football clubs can become a little bit dizzy because opportunities come that you wouldn’t have considered but now you think you should. I like us to be a lot more strategic in our thinking and have a clear plan of what we need and stick to the plan. In between the windows when that’s not going on and you’re able to go out and watch some games I think it’s better. If you’re in the window and I go and watch a game the noise gets louder. In terms of the players who are out of contract, there are a couple of things. You’ve changed manager so the perception or the ideas might’ve changed. Some people may get more oxygen or more space or some may be less. Secondly, there’s the personal form and health is important and then the other one is how the season ends. The fans also in that part of how the season ends are really important because if players now really show up well in the last 14/15 games and players perform well in hopefully two cup finals then the fans will be desperate for them. If between now and the end of the season the form falls off and we have some difficult days then the fans and the club may have to look in a different direction. Everything is up in the air for the players and for myself. My job has been to get us in a healthier position than we found ourselves in November before the World Cup break and I think we’ve done that but everything is still to be decided this season. There are no pats on the back I just think we’re back where we should’ve been and now we have to go and deliver for the fans and for everybody in the next two or three months.

What's going on with the Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos contract situations?

I love both of them in different ways. My relationship with Ryan is spoken about a lot. When I went to Liverpool in 2012 he was in my team there and our relationship has been attached since then. The thing with Ryan is he gives the team so much out of possession. With every player, if you don’t play for us out of possession then you don’t play. That’s a rule we have and it’s why sometimes we make changes if we’re not happy with the intensity. Ryan is always 100 per cent to his teammates. People speak about him scoring more goals, Ryan wants to score more. They want him to get more assists, Ryan wants more but one thing his team mates will never throw at him is his work ethic. I love the bones off him and he’s at a moment in his career and age where he has an option and a decision to make. We’d very much like him to stay. If Ryan really wants to be here and has the energy for the next three or four years. If there is anything off or he feels he’s been here then no problem, he’ll get the biggest hug in the world and walk out of the front door. It’s the same with Alfredo, there’s a misconception about him compared to the boy I work with every day. We’ve always had a really strong relationship through my terrible Spanish but since I’ve come back in he’s been fantastic. He’s matured a lot. He’s our record scorer in Europe, we’ve won leagues and cups and got to the Europa League Final with him. Whatever decision is made, he needs to walk out the front door. That’s what my communication has been with both boys.

Comfortable with question marks over who may leave in the summer?

When I write down the definites I’m okay with it. I haven’t worked with Ridvan or Tom Lawrence yet so when I write down the definites who are definitely going to be here, certainly since Nico and Todd have arrived, I can take this squad now in a direction if people don’t want to be here. A contract’s a contract, you tell a player if you’d like him to stay. If you don’t want him to stay you don’t tell him anything and he gets the idea. But it’s energy every day and sometimes in any industry but certainly, in football, when things are not going well and there’s no communication it’s where mistakes arise. You take off people’s energy. Energy is body language and communication as well. I’ve seen people wanting to turn this season around and the push to get to the cup final and the push to get to another one and the push to keep winning just to be there, just to keep winning in case anything was to change. I’ve seen pureness from everybody and that’s all I can go off.