Brendan Rodgers has opened up on his relationship with Michael Beale and admits he's taken a 'huge job' at Rangers.
The new Celtic gaffer is back in Scotland for a second stint after replacing Ange Postecoglou in the dugout. The Treble winning boss has left for a crack at the English Premier League with Tottenham and been replaced by a man who is no stranger to trophies as Hoops boss. He was officially unveiled to the media on Friday as he gets down to hard work in a bid to maintain domestic dominance over the Light Blues and make a splash in the Champions League.
Beale is currently going through a summer overhaul at Rangers as he bids to put together a side capable of knocking Celtic off their perch. He's allowed the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent to leave with contracts up while he's made four new additions to date including England cap Jack Butland.
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Discussing Beale, Rodgers said: “Michael is starting out in his managerial career and he’s taken on a huge job at Rangers. But I always respect every manager who goes in because it’s such a tough gig, especially at a big club.
“Back at Chelsea, I knew he had a love of the game. I was working with the youth team and reserves at the time but I knew he had passion and we communicated a lot.
“He was clearly ambitious and wanting to progress which was great and he’s done that. He made a really good start at QPR before coming up here.
“He knows the climate, the challenge, the pressures and the expectations. Michael wanted to take that on.
“In the past, we’ve just had football chats. We would talk when we were at Liverpool together.
“I changed the academy there and brought Alex Inglethorpe in, who is still there now. He knew Michael, so through that relationship we would speak. And we bumped into each other from time to time when he was at Aston Villa too.”
