Former Liverpool and Chelsea coach and Steven Gerrard's No.2

Former Liverpool and Chelsea coach and Steven Gerrard's No.2 at Rangers emerges as new Cardiff City candidate


Tuesday 26th October 2021



Cardiff City are said to be monitoring Michael Beale as a candidate for the manager's job - he is credited with much of Rangers' success under Gerrard

Cardiff City are said to be monitoring Michael Beale as a candidate for the manager's job - he is credited with much of Rangers' success under Gerrard



Cardiff City are running the rule over Steven Gerrard's number two at Scottish giants Rangers in their hunt for a new manager.

Michael Beale, 40, has emerged as another candidate the Cardiff hierarchy are looking at as they seek Mick McCarthy's successor.

Beale's name is a new one to enter the frame, and he will be largely unknown to many.

Beale though would be offered no money for new players and would have to bring through players from Cardiff’s Accademy in January and next season to join the first team.


However, he has solid pedigree and has helped develop a number of stars for the top whilst working in youth football with first Chelsea, then Liverpool.

Having moved with Gerrard to become assistant boss at Ibrox, Beale is also credited with a lot of the success which has seen Rangers usurp their big rivals Celtic as the new kingpins of Scottish football.




Cardiff are believed to be expressing interest, Beale fitting the bill as the younger manager Vincent Tan is looking for who brings through home-grown players and adopts a more modern tactical approach.

Beale's coaching journey began at age-grade level with Chelsea, where he worked under Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Guus Hiddink and helped develop the likes of Mason Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi for stardom.

He moved to Liverpool to become head coach of their under-23 side, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Wilson among the players Beale helped to groom for the top.

After a brief spell working in Brazil, he was head-hunted by Gerrard for the Rangers revolution up north.

Beale has worked closely with Gerrard and Gary McAllister as Rangers have won the league and begun to dominate Scottish football again, with some describing his work as "really quite special" and saying he is one of the powers behind the throne.

He had previously worked with Gerrard at Liverpool, overseeing the under-16s before moving up to the under-23s.

No fewer than 18 members of Beale's squad burst through for first-team debuts under Jurgen Klopp in the space of just two years, Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Neco Williams amongst them.

Gerrard has previously said of Beale's work with Rangers: "It would take me 15 to 20 years to become as good as Michael Beale as an on-pitch coach, delivering sessions on a daily basis, so I let Mick be Mick because he's the expert."

Former Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty has described Beale as the "the brains behind" Rangers' success, with Liverpool legend and leading Sky pundit Jamie Carragher saying 'You knew he was a top coach.'

Whether Beale would become a top manager in his own right would represent a gamble, of course, particularly with Cardiff being in the state they currently are.

However, Tan is open to the idea of employing a manager more in tune with modern football trends, while experienced campaigners such as Chris Wilder and Chris Hughton are also very much in the mix.

Tan believes the development of home-grown players is the key to Cardiff's future success and wants a manager to continue bringing through Academy youngsters and who knows and can sign top young talent from across the UK.

Yes please,

That'll do nicely. Let's go for him and have the patience and commitment to develop.

No more antiquated stop gap, short term safe pair of hands.

C'mon City Onwards and upwards

Sounds promising and exactly what we need. Get him in!

I am still expecting the club to make a complete mess of the appointment though.

Some positive news

I think fans would return and be a bit more lenient if the club went for a manager with a vision for playing football with a bit of style not hoofball. Might take a bit of time to change the present culture but with so many contracts coming to their ends it could be the perfect time.

That'll do nicely. Let's go for him and have the patience and commitment to develop.

No more antiquated stop gap, short term safe pair of hands.

C'mon City Onwards and upwards

Agreed we need someone like this and need to show patience, as long as we are not relegated we can live with a few years rebuilding in mid-lower championship level

That'll do nicely. Let's go for him and have the patience and commitment to develop.

No more antiquated stop gap, short term safe pair of hands.

C'mon City Onwards and upwards

Certainly sounds promising.

The more I think about it the more I want us to take a risk on a younger, untried manager.

What have we got to lose, after losing 8 on the bounce surely we can't do any worse !!??

Not heard of him before, but sounds like the sort of candidate that we should be looking for.

I still think that we need possibly two new players in January, but others could move out to balance the books.
We really need more creativity and ball control in the middle of the pitch or our strikers are going to get nowhere, and we don't want to be relegated.

Also, if we are really looking for a worthwhile long-term manager who can bring youngsters through and make us more entertaining to watch, then we need to listen to what the best candidates say and not just grab another "yes" man.

Not heard of him before, but sounds like the sort of candidate that we should be looking for.

I still think that we need possibly two new players in January, but others could move out to balance the books.
We really need more creativity and ball control in the middle of the pitch or our strikers are going to get nowhere, and we don't want to be relegated.

Also, if we are really looking for a worthwhile long-term manager who can bring youngsters through and make us more entertaining to watch, then we need to listen to what the best candidates say and not just grab another "yes" man.

Two new fullbacks left and right we've never replaced Bennett or Peltier, we've got to stop the leaking sieve !!!

I'd probably still go with Wilder, but if not a Swansea like appointment he sounds promising, as long as he has some decent contacts still at Liverpool and Chelsea, we could do with some decent loan players

Problem is these types a high risk, great when it works out, but you don't know what you are going to get?

He’s well thought of at Ibrox, obviously a bit of a punt as it would be his first managerial appointment but he certainly knows the game.

Let's hope we are patient with him felt we weren't under Trollope and like Beale he was a good number 2

Ticks all the boxes

He’s credited with how Rangers set up and supposedly has a lot of input on tactics. Hoof ball ain’t his thing.

He sounds great BUT remember Paul Trollope was an excellent on the pitch coach that didnt live up top the job of being a No1.

This bloke certainly sounds like he would have the right connections both with up and coming players and clubs

I may be being a bit cynical here but is he really being credited with a lot of Rangers success or is it just that he is at Rangers whilst Gerrard is really responsible for their success.

Also he is credited with brining through young players at Liverpool and Chelsea. He my have been there while a load of young players came through but Liverpool and Chelsea have some of the best young players in the world and they would come through with any half decent coach.

Maybe he is really a great coach and maybe Celtic really were trying to poach McCarthy from us but I would like to hear from an expert on Rangers before proceeding further.

Sounds like a diamond, get him to sign that contract

He's high risk.

But possibly a risk worth taking.

I may be being a bit cynical here but is he really being credited with a lot of Rangers success or is it just that he is at Rangers whilst Gerrard is really responsible for their success.

Also he is credited with brining through young players at Liverpool and Chelsea. He my have been there while a load of young players came through but Liverpool and Chelsea have some of the best young players in the world and they would come through with any half decent coach.

Maybe he is really a great coach and maybe Celtic really were trying to poach McCarthy from us but I would like to hear from an expert on Rangers before proceeding further.