Incoming Rangers boss Michael Beale claims he will take the "handbrake off" the Ibrox players as he looks to revive their club's fortunes this term.
The Londoner has been named the club's 18th permanent manager little more than one year after leaving Ibrox alongside Steven Gerrard for Aston Villa, taking over from Gio van Bronckhorst and leaving behind the QPR hot seat. He leaves the English Championship side knowing he has a tough task ahead of him to kickstart Rangers bid for the Scottish Premiership title with Celtic leading the table by nine points.
The former Ibrox assistant is aware of how beneficial this period of time without matches could be has friendlies with Swansea City and Bayer Leverkusen lined up to assess his troops before they return to league business versus Hibs on December 15. When asked about having time to work with the players this month, Beale told Rangers TV: “That’s extremely beneficial.
“We know that at this moment in time we’re missing some key players through injury and it’s important we get them back quickly. I’m looking forward to getting on the training pitch and working with the players again.
"There are a lot of new players I’m excited to work with, who I feel have huge potential for this club. There are players who were here previously under me who will have an idea of how I want to work.
"But the ideas have changed a little bit, they’ve grown. There is more variety and there are different ideas I have which makes me excited to work with the players here.
“I can’t wait to get started. Our squad will be a great deal stronger for that. The squad is very well balanced, it’s a strong squad, and they’re all the things that excited me about coming back.
“It wasn’t just the friendships and the experiences before. It’s about believing in this group and believing they can go on and be very successful. And I feel I can help them and the club to be successful.
"So I’m really excited about working with everyone. It’s going to be like a mini-preseason in terms of ideas and identity. And I want us to be on the front-foot. I want us to take the handbrake off and I want us to go for it every single week.
“I think that’s what makes this crowd excited and that’s the most important thing. The fans come to watch their team win but they also come to be entertained and it’s important we do both those things.”
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