Staying put: Michael Beale has snubbed Wolves to continue as manager at QPR
(Picture: Getty Images)Michael Beale has made no secret of his desire to manage in the Premier League and the fact he has now turned down Wolves shows how he believes he can achieve that aim with QPR.
That will be music to the ears of Rangers’ owners, who would have feared the worst when they received an official approach on Thursday morning.
QPR have made a brilliant start to life under Beale as victory over Cardiff on Wednesday night sent them to the top of the Championship. Beale has transformed the Rs into an attractive, high-energy team in just over four months, but all that good early work risked being undone if he left for Wolves.
Thankfully for QPR, after talks late night on Wednesday night and in the early hours of Thursday morning with CEO Lee Hoos and director of football Les Ferdinand, Beale decided to stay at Loftus Road and now there will be excitement about what is possible under his management.
Appointing Beale in the summer was a risk for QPR, but the club were convinced they had got the right man after undergoing an extensive search for a new head coach.
The club’s head of recruitment, Andy Belk, was heavily involved in the process and a decision was taken to find a coach with expertise in developing young players.
They looked at the likes of Liam Manning and Rob Edwards, but Beale was QPR’s No1 target. He fits their model of growing players from within the academy, while ensuring they remain financially sustainable by operating shrewdly in the transfer market.
To lose Beale now would have seen that project - which includes QPR’s new state-of-the-art training ground being finished next year - collapsing before it had even got off the ground.
In the past QPR have had to sell their young players, such as Eberechi Eze, to remain financially compliant in the Championship but the hope is under Beale they can grow with the club.
Beale was assured in the summer that star players, such as Chris Willock and Ilias Chair, would not be sold during that transfer window and he convinced them to stay, too.
Beale urged them to take their destiny into their own hands by firing QPR to the Premier League, and now it would appear the head coach is following his own advice by opting to stay put at Loftus Road.
Beale had already earned a reputation as an excellent training-ground coach before joining QPR following his work as Steven Gerrard’s assistant at Aston Villa and Rangers, however he has also impressed in his first managerial role with his work off the pitch.
In particular, Beale has gone out of his way to help foreign players settle in west London, remembering how difficult it was for him when he left Liverpool to coach at Sao Paulo in 2017.
He has also played an active role in the work going on at the new training ground and Loftus Road, suggesting to those at the club he is in it for the long term.
Beale’s decision to stay supports that and he has spoken about the attraction of being able to grow something at QPR, which is a luxury not many mangers - especially those in the Championship - are often afforded.
Beale’s efforts on and off the pitch have contributed to the buoyant mood at QPR, which will be even higher now he has decided to stay.
That was certainly the case in a team meeting this afternoon, as Beale gathered the players to tell them he was staying and look ahead to Saturday’s game at home to Wigan.
That match should be played in front of a vocal Loftus Road crowd, with fans over the moon that Beale is staying after the Rs’ flying start
He is determined to keep feet on the ground for now, though, with the aim being for QPR to be in and around the promotion race come March. On current evidence, that looks more than achievable and QPR fans have every right to be dreaming big.
