It’S been a season where Rangers have had little other choice but to grin and bear it.
But Michael Beale contends a little service with a smile might just be what’s required to turn frowns upside down and lift the mood round Ibrox. The new boss officially gets down to work tonight against Hibs as he takes charge of Gers on competitive duty for the first time since replacing Gio van Bronckhorst.
The Londoner has watched from a distance the term as the happy faces that beamed brighter with every step taken on the road to Seville last season have given way to glum looks all round. Few have looked more down in the dumps than Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent as the Europa League finalists’ season has imploded on the back of Champions League humiliation and repeated slip-ups in the Premiership. Out of form and soon to be out of contract, the new gaffer is worried by the message the dejected duo are sending out.
When it comes to stroppy striker Morelos, both of Beale’s predecessors Steven Gerrard and van Bronckhorst had issues connecting with Colombian. But there were early signs of an upturn in relations with the former QPR boss as the frontman returned to action during Saturday’s friendly win over Bayer Leverkusen looking leaner and keener than he has in months.
It’s early days yet but Beale is encouraged by what players are saying behind closed doors about their commitment to the cause. He’d just like them to tell their faces that.
Asked how he felt Morelos had responded since his arrival, Steven Gerrard’s former No.2 said: “We’re in the honeymoon period at the moment, me and him!
“No, we know each other. I’ve lived with him and he did some fantastic things when I was here before.
On a personal level, out on the training pitch, we always really got on. Nothing seems to have changed with that.
“There’s always a lot of noise around Alfredo but the most important thing for him is just to play football and do his talking on the pitch. When he’s on the pitch he’s very committed and has that look on his face sometimes.
“I’d like him to smile more. I think that’s important.
“I’ve actually said that to Ryan Kent too and some of the other players - show that you’re living your dream. I want them to show that they are.
“At this time of year especially as a footballer you’re around your family and arguably everybody in your family would want to be you. You’re a professional football player, you earn money to play in front of thousands of people, earning a good living. It’s important that they enjoy that.
“Sometimes at clubs like Rangers the background noise can become a bit big, and overlook that. So it’s important I have those conversations and Alfredo is certainly a better player when he feels the warmth of everybody around him.
“The only place we can guarantee that is inside this building.”
Van Bronckhorst grew so tired of Morelos’ antics he opted to drop the 26-year-old ahead of the crucial Champions League clash with PSV. But Beale is confident he can communicate on the South American’s level.
The former Sao Paulo coach said: “Behind the scenes he’s the laugher and joker in the group, he’s really not what the public perception is. There has never been an issue around here, he is really liked by his team-mates.
“And his English is better than he lets on to you guys that’s for sure! So I am able to converse with him a little bit between broken Portuguese and his Spanish, but mostly in English.
“I knew what I was inheriting. And that’s a player who is sometimes high maintenance but also high output and the high output element is the most important thing.”
Morelos and Kent’s long-term future at Ibrox remains to be resolved. But the new boss has warned the rest of his squad not to bother getting too comfortable either as he takes the next few weeks to assess them before the January window opens.
“We’ll look to improve,” he said. “I would say that no one’s safe because I don’t want to bring any fillers into the squad. I only want to bring people in that can start in the first 11.
“I’ll have my own opinion on that which might differ from maybe the opinions of one or two months ago. It’s important I give everybody an opportunity to show but certainly I want to strengthen the squad. In every single position I think we can improve the squad.
“There are some players that are important to Rangers but at the same time, I wouldn’t hassle bringing someone in who I thought was stronger for the starting 11.”
Beale’s new charges get their first opportunity to impress tonight when they welcome Lee Johnson’s men along the M8. Two wins in Gers’ last five league fixtures have resulted in a nine-point deficit on Ange Postecoglou’s rampant Celtic.
But the new gaffer hopes to put out a team the disgruntled Rangers faithful can get behind. He said: “I think they’ll see a team close in style really to what they were used to when I was here under Steven in terms of the way we want to play with front-foot attacking football. Certainly there’ll be elements of Gio and his staff as well within that and I think you’ll see over time that evolving.
“I just need to win games of football. Not just myself, the players need to go out and win games but they’re more than capable of it.
"A few weeks ago I visited a game when they played against Aberdeen who were third at the time and they were very comfortable and strong that day in winning that game. You wouldn’t have foreseen the stuff that would’ve happened after that so I think we just need to win games one at a time, be consistently improving, be consistent in our training and improving there and the rest of it will take care of itself.”
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