Manager in vow that he’ll keep a cool head

MICHAEL BEALE has vowed that his time as Rangers manager will see no repeat of the touchline histrionics that earned him an SFA ban after a charged Old Firm fixture in December 2019.

Beale was shown a red card after accusing referee Kevin Clancy of cheating and then clashed with Celtic assistant John Kennedy as he made his way up the tunnel at the end of a 2-1 victory at Parkhead.

At the time the 42-year-old was operating as Steven Gerrard’s first-team coach and admits he learned from the manager’s calmer conduct that day.

He said: ‘You’ve got to show passion. But you also have to know that you’re representing a lot of people. So you should never go overboard with the passion.

‘Thankfully, I wasn’t the manager that day. Our manager showed much more decorum than me.’

Beale and Kennedy were actually well acquainted before the former’s arrival in Scotland in 2018.

He explained: ‘For years I’d been coming up to SFA courses and one of the constants was John Kennedy. I always met him on the courses.

‘So the situation at Celtic Park was a strange one. In that moment, I assumed he said something I wouldn’t have liked him to say — and I told him that. You get carried away and I accused the ref of something you can’t do.

‘It was just that game, that moment. Just two minutes before I was so calm.

‘I’m a little bit more mature now for that. It was part of my learning.’

Although Gerrard generally managed to avoid being drawn into any fiery situations another of his coaches was punished after a clash in a game at Easter Road.

‘It was Tom Culshaw who got the red card against Hibs, that wasn’t me!’ added Beale.

‘At that time, we felt like we were trying to take on the world. And our players had to see us with them taking on the world.

‘I see it with Mikel Arteta with his Arsenal squad right now. They’re together and you can feel it.

‘But these jobs come with huge responsibility. It’s a privilege to work in this city. It’s hectic. There’s a lot of expectation.

‘I don’t see the pressure, only the expectation. I want that.’