Michael Beale explains 'wasn’t right moment to be Rangers boss' and recalls anger and guilt of Hibs and Celtic losses

When Nick Walsh blows his whistle at Hampden Park on Sunday afternoon to bring an end to the Viaplay Cup final, Michael Beale will be hoping to put frustration and guilt associated with Mount Florida in the past.

He was part of Steven Gerrard’s backroom staff when the team contrived to lose the 2019 League Cup final to Celtic. Two years later he watched on, from afar, as the Ibrox side tasted defeat to Hibs who raced into a three-goal lead before the 40-minute mark. Ten days prior Gerrard had been announced as Aston Villa boss with Beale to follow as part of the coaching team.

“It wasn’t a nice game to watch," was the now Rangers boss’ recollection of the match. “Strange game. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong in the game. Every time they had an attack it went in and things happened. Maybe you saw the emotion of the whole group. That is best left in the past.”

The option for Beale and the coaching staff to stay on to take the team “wasn’t discussed” and he admitted he didn’t feel great watching on and there was a pang of guilt.

“Yeah, of course," he said. I think that is natural as well. Football clubs move on, they do move on and things evolve. It was in that group’s destiny, it was in their eyes to have done better in that game and I think everyone has got a lot of regret around that day.

"It wasn’t the right moment for me to be manager of Rangers, I had to go away and get experience to be a manager, I had to go and grow and learn. It would have been a risk for the club. I think it would have been the wrong moment for me as well.”

‘I wanted to come back’

When the opportunity did present itself last year after Giovanni van Bronckhorst's sacking, he added: “I wouldn’t say no to Rangers because the club had a big pull on me when I was here, certainly the people behind the scenes also. I wanted to come back. You upset some people making a decision like that, I understand that. It is regrettable that is the situation but the key thing for me was coming back to work here with a number of players and staff that I had grown really fond of."

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JANUARY 02: Rangers' Alfredo Morelos during a cinch Premiership match between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox Stadium, on January 02, 2023, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Then there was that December day in 2019. Rangers were excellent but Alfredo Morelos missed a penalty and Christopher Jullien scored the contentious winner. That isn’t what frustrates Beale, however.

“We knew we’d executed a lot of things that we wanted to,” he said. “At that time our team was nowhere as experienced as the Celtic side in those situations. We didn’t execute in the penalty box and that was ultimately in our own hands. Would their goal be given nowadays? But c’mon, we missed a penalty, missed big opportunities and Fraser Forster was man of the match on the day. But it’s a trophy they got and we didn’t.

“The only way to get past those days and over them is go on and pick up trophies moving forward.”