This piece is an extract from yesterday's Rangers Insider newsletter, which is emailed out at 5pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Rangers Review team.

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If football managers have a type, nobody favours an attacking midfielder like Michael Beale.

They represent the type of football he wants to play; forward-thinking, exciting and in close combination with others.

Beale, unlike Giovanni van Bronckhorst, is not a coach who pins wingers to the touchline and tries to create superiority in one-on-one situations. Instead attempting to overwhelm opponents and unlock defences through dynamic interplay, positional freedom and fostering a style that gets attackers operating as a collective unit.

Leading us nicely onto the topic of Ianis Hagi.

Sunday was the first real spark we’ve seen since the Romanian returned from a year out with injury, as he continues to build up strength and sharpness. Rolling the ball from his right foot onto his equally strong left, he picked out Todd Cantwell centrally to split the defence and earn Scott Arfield the game’s third goal against Raith Rovers.

With Cantwell, Ryan Kent and Malik Tillman all vying for places, alongside the injured Alex Lowry and Tom Lawrence, Rangers are oversubscribed behind the striker.

However, having just recently signed a new contract, Hagi doesn’t look like a player set to end his Ibrox spell anytime soon. Especially because of the change in style that’s followed as a result of a change in regime.

Let’s look back at the 2020/21 season when Hagi recorded seven goals and 10 assists over the course of the league season (22.6 90 minutes). Per 90, his xG stood at 0.24, his xG assisted 0.25 and goals and assists 0.75. Only Kemar Roofe had a better scoring contribution per game ratio in the entire team that season.

In 2021/22, Hagi had scored two goals and recorded no assists in the league by the time he suffered an injury in January (having played 13.4 90 minutes). Per 90, his xG had fallen slightly to 0.21, his xG assisted 0.13 and goals and assists 0.15.

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READ MORE: Ianis Hagi exclusive - Rangers absence, injury return and living to win

Although he overperformed his expected numbers considerably in 20/21 (5.93) and then underperformed the following campaign (2.58) there’s a clear contrast between the two seasons.

Van Bronckhorst played the midfielder in a very different role to the one previously occupied under Steven Gerrard and Beale. Starting out wide on the right and drifting inside, instead of always playing in the centre.

It never felt like a position or overall style of play primed to bring out Hagi’s best performances.

Speaking to the Rangers Review earlier this year, Hagi said on the topic of ‘best positions’: “For me as a player, I’m more focused on my role than my position. If you play me out wide and tell me to run the line and beat players one-on-one all game, I don’t have that quality.

“Ok. there are times when I will run behind and read the game but my quality is not running on the side. Earlier in my career, I played as a false No.9 in Romania and although my goal-tally wasn’t high I created lots of opportunities. It’s important for me that I know my role and my team knows my role.”

Although not completely restricted to the boundaries of the pitch, the ‘role’ Hagi played under van Bronckhorst never felt ideally suited to his skillset.

He wasn’t being asked to beat opponents individually but was isolated in wide areas of the pitch, not operating centrally in close contact with teammates.

It was a theme he touched on following a 1-0 win against Dundee United in late 2021, after starting the game out wide and then moving into a central position.

“In the past, I’ve said how much I enjoy playing in the middle of the pitch, I think I get more touches on the ball, when the team’s struggling to build up I can get in spots to receive and help them up the pitch. I really enjoyed the second half, being more on the ball, creating for the team, with more runners in front of me, I think that’s when I’m at my best.”

The location of Hagi’s key passes and assists in that impressive 2020/21 league season proves this point.

Hagi can play his best football in the middle of the pitch, with runners ahead of him. To pick out passes and unpick defensive locks, helping speed up games like last weekend’s.

Can he return attacking numbers like the title-winning campaign again? If any system will get the best out of him, it’s Beale’s.