Michael Beale on 'well-liked' Ross Wilson Rangers exit - Full Q+A

Can we get your reaction to the Ross Wilson news?

Obviously, we wish him well. Around the training ground, he was a hugely positive figure and I worked closely with him. We’ve been having chats behind the scenes for a couple of weeks and it was clear he felt this was an opportunity for him to go to a new club and start a new journey. We wish him well. He’s well-liked around the club, a lot of the players were recruited during the time he was here. He has a lot of time for them and it’s vice versa. He’s a friend as well as a colleague so we really wish him well.

What’s next in that department?

Whatever you want to term it I think it’s a safeguarding of the club. It’s someone who oversees the departments, one of those being the first team. I think it safeguards the team in terms of future management, signings and making sure strategy from the board is in place. It’s replaced the old-fashioned manager of years gone past who does it all. It’s what suits each club there is no right and wrong. I’m sure our board and John Bennett now will take his time to assess everything and decide what comes next. In the short term, I’ll oversee what happens at the training ground day in day out. I’m very close to the recruitment staff anyway. A lot of our targets and those conversations are up and running. Pre-season is planned. It’s the loss of a close ally in the club and a good friend I enjoyed working with. In terms of my role, I just crack on as normal.

There’s no uncertainty in summer plans?

No not at all.

What did you make of the protests against him?

He’s been here for three and a half years and been through three managers. He’s had a lot of highs, the league, Europa League, getting to the final and winning the Scottish Cup. He’s had offers along the way. You’d have to ask him yourself but in my conversations with him he felt it was a good moment for him and his family. You have to respect that. I thought he done a good job here. The outside perception is not what everyone feels and sees day in day out inside. When you work in a big club there’s always going to be opinion about success. Ross will be known here as a really good guy who was here 24/7. The one thing day in day out you’ll miss as part of his personality is he was so positive through good and bad times. He was always on the remit and the job the board demanded of him.

Have you done any deals behind the scenes yet?

There’s players we are speaking to, there is targets. You’re doing what every club will do, I won’t give you the ins and outs as you can imagine but I’m confident and happy with where things are right now.

Are you happy working under the Sporting Director model?

My communication with the board is really strong. I’m not a new member of staff a lot of these board members I’ve known since 2018. There’s a long term relationship and they made me an offer to come back. That tells me the communication lines are strong and the relationship is strong. With John taking over from Douglas it’s a familiar face and I’ve got direct line to him. Stewart Robertson, I have a good relationship with. In terms of the communication in the short term there’s no problem. If the club deem fit we should have another Sporting Director then that’s a good model for the club. It’s a wide reaching role. It oversees the academy staff, women’s staff, not just the first team manager. Recruitment, everything that comes in. It’s somebody who is a buffer between those heads of department and the board. That’s how a lot of clubs work now. 5-10 years ago it maybe wasn’t the norm in the UK but now it very much is. In the short term, am I able with the head of recruitment and all the line managers to do their jobs? Of course I am. Once we get into the summer if the club deem it feels good the way it is at the moment then no problem. I have no problem working alone or with a sporting director.

Did you speak to Crawford Allan about last week’s game?

No I haven’t. In the past I have but not this week. I wasn’t involved for me the game was done. I disagree with one decision, I got it wrong on another. It was the angle I’d seen I thought it hit the boy's arm, it hadn’t. I still think the first decision was the wrong one. It’s up for debate but the game is gone. We can’t change the result. Any of the stuff I’ve read and seen earlier, i don’t know the actual facts, but if Kevin has been getting abuse it’s not something we can accept in football. As a club we condemn that. Whoever the referee is in whatever game it’s a difficult job as it is. I happen to think it was a wrong decision but across the whole game you can’t count too many that were up for debate, it was just that one moment. After every big derby game, it drags on for days. We need to be careful. I thought it was a good game, unfortunately, we came off second best. I’m more disappointed in that than anything else.

What’s the injury news?

There’s quite a bit. Connor Goldson is still unavailable, Ridvan Yilmaz has come out of training early in the week, he is unavailable, Antonio Colak came out of training yesterday and he is unavailable, Scott Wright too. Ryan Jack and Ryan Kent.

Is the injury situation this season something the club will look at in detail?

I came in November and a big part of your season is preparation at the start. I came in and you’re picking up pieces as you go. We’ve been able to play a consistent 11 for about 18/21 games I’ve been here. The back four has been consistent. Ryan Jack’s played as much football as he's played in a long time, so I don't think there's a huge issue there. There's different types of injuries. There's overtraining or overuse injuries, and then there's contact injuries. I think we would always look closely at the ones that were from overtraining or overuse. Certainly, in any football club, when you start getting injuries, the other players have to play more and it leads to it. Our schedule, I think, up to prior to me coming in, I think there had been 13 or 14 weeks of three-game weeks at the start of the season and it will be the same next season, so you have to build a squad that can withhold 14 or 15 weeks of playing three games a week and you have to use your squad wisely and your pre-season is important. All I can think about is planning a squad and building a squad for next season that's a little bit more robust than what we've been this year. I don't know the where's and why’s of why we've had injuries, but since I've been back in, in the main, I've been quite pleased. I think when you change manager three times in probably 14 months like Rangers has and then that also has different fitness staff, different ways of coaching and stuff like that, that's all an impact as well. We need some stability and through stability that’s the same way of training, same fitness coaches, same medical staff, I think all that dies down. It's not an issue that I ever incurred when I was here as a first-team coach under Steven, for example. It's one that I've come back into and I've managed and I think the staff have managed quite well to this point. 

Is it a transitional period for the club? 

Yes. It’s par of the course for a big club, I think we've got really strong foundations and now it's about making good decisions, that's what I would say. I think the team has been performing well. I think that it’s had a couple of games where it's had rough results, but actually, there's not too much to make up. I want to move really quickly this summer in the window. We need to be aggressive, we need to be early in the window and we need to identify good players. I think we had a good January in terms of bringing Todd Cantwell and Nico Raskin in the building and we need to continue doing that as well. There's a strong foundation, there's got to be some strong decisions made now and good decisions, and I'm excited by that. I'm excited by having the responsibility of, along with the board and the people that support me, in making those decisions. But I'm excited by it. 

How long do you think it’ll take before you have your team in place both on and off the park? 

It's a good summer for us. There won't be much time for resting when the season ends. There's a lot of work done. I'm trying to do that work now and the club is are aware of that. John Bennett has come in, taking over from Douglas, and has come in with a lot of energy and some good ideas, and we've had some good conversations already. I feel I have really, really strong support from the board. I always felt that anyway, but I certainly feel that at this moment. The communication in the last few days has been very clear. I've been able to share my ideas as well, but it's always been transparent. A lot of the planning's been going on since November. Obviously, we can only action a little bit of it in January and we'll action it again in the summer. But as I say, I'm excited about that. I'm seeing enough good things from my team in terms of the core players, I want to move forward with that makes me excited about more than one or two of the additions we're going to make this summer. 

Have you been impressed with the job Stephen Robinson is doing? 

Stephens done a very, very good job. It's interesting we've played 21 domestic games and I haven't played against St. Mirren yet, which is obviously, something with the schedule. It was obviously the last game before the World Cup break before I came in. I think they're three points off third place and the European money there. There's a fantastic battle in the division at the moment. We're entering into the last seven league games, where obviously naturally with a split, but I'm assuming Aberdeen and St Mirren will make the top six as well. We've got seven games against teams around us and I think there is everything to play for some of those clubs for that European place. We can see what it did for Hearts financially this year and the other clubs will be very aware of that. Stephen's done a good job. I think he'll make things really difficult for us tomorrow. It's important that we bounce back. I'm looking at the team training this week. I'm happy with where we're at and the team that we’re playing tomorrow, I think it's quite an exciting team, so I'm looking forward to the game as well. 

Is there a concern some of the injuries may be long-term? 

We'll have to assess. I think one or two are just knicks and niggles that we don't want to take a risk on right now. Obviously, Connor, we know is going to be away with a possibility of playing next weekend but we've got an eye on the semi-final for him. Ryan Kent, right at the end of the game had an awkward landing and he's got quite a lot of bruising around it so has not been able to come back to training this week. We just need to assess where that is in the early part of next week. Ridvan will be back. Tony has a slight problem with his calf. Jacko, yesterday just opened his knee out a little bit but we don't think there's anything major there. 

Is the Bosman market one you’ll be looking at in the summer? 

Well, we just went into it obviously in the last window with Todd and Nico and we're always looking at what's out there and what's interesting and how we can maximise the budget that we've got to bring in as many good players. The first thing is 'Do they fit Rangers not the price'. We are certainly in a country where we have to cut our cloth cleverly and according to the budget that we have, but it's a market that I'll look at closely. If you look at this year with someone like Malik Tillman on a loan with an option, it's always great as well for a player at a big club that maybe cannot break through. With me and my staff, the big thing is our network is very strong. If you add that then to the recruitment team here, we're searching far and wide. If the window goes how I plan it to go, then you'll be able to trace a lot of the players back to some that maybe I've worked with or you'll be able to see the links, they'll be clear. It's important that we recruit strongly and we recruit the right type of people as well. 

Do you plan on giving some guys who haven’t had much game time more minutes? 

First thing is we have to keep winning and I want a strong Rangers. I certainly won't devalue the shirt and just give people minutes because I think they've been waiting. They have to deserve them. We've got a semi-final and we want to end the season well. We want to retain the Scottish Cup. There's still a lot to play for. Within that there will be opportunities but the biggest thing is that the players have to earn it on the training pitch. 

Is Robby McCrorie’s chance coming soon? 

He's getting closer and closer to full fitness since I come in. He's barely been out a train or play, but now he has had two B team games and in these last few games it's fair to say that at some point you will see Robby McCrorie being given an opportunity for sure.