The atmosphere in the Rangers dressing room during Michael Beale’s last few days on the job has been revealed by Jack Butland.
Bailey recruited the Englishman on a free transfer last summer as part of a rebuilding effort to contend for the Premiership title. Beale was fired after the Light Blues’ 3-1 home loss to Aberdeen at the end of September left them seven points behind Celtic at the top of the table. This was after the team failed to advance past the Champions League group stage and Beale faced criticism for the domestic portion of the season.
Furthermore, Butland, 30, acknowledged in an interview with the BBC Scottish Football Podcast that there was a team consensus that things weren’t going well under Beale’s direction. “As a group, we were scrambling,” he stated.
It was not a nice moment for us. It wasn’t right, and it wasn’t going to plan. We were heading into a dead end as we went down a cul-de-sac. We didn’t feel as though we were making the necessary progress.”
Philippe Clement, Beale’s replacement, has swiftly energized Rangers, and the Belgian team is now targeting a domestic triple crown and more advancement in the Europa League. Butland has continued to preserve 22 clean sheets this season across all competitions, and some are already calling for an England call-up prior to Euro 2024. He then went into great depth about how the former Monaco manager managed to win the Viaplay Cup and take a two-point lead into the last 11 Premiership games.
“People see him as this big, bad character,” Butland continued. He’s not, but if he so desired, he could be. Although he is the big, terrible wolf in the media, he gives us a great sense of confidence. From a tactical standpoint, there are some things he has been gradually instilling in us about how he wants us to play. It all comes down to efficiency, creating opportunities, moving the ball forward skillfully, and being very hard to stop. One game at a time was the dull cliche. Since the management took over, things have always been this way. The boys are now bred with it. All you can do is go on to the next game. You don’t have time to relax.”
After the Dons’ defeat, Butland, the former keeper for Stoke City and Birmingham, was approached by an enraged fan outside Ibrox. He gave his explanation for choosing to listen to the unhappy bunch. Some supporters wanted to interact with us in person, but many others preferred to criticize us on the field. Whether we win, lose, or draw, there is always a high level of tension following, so I always take a moment to sign things for the kids.
It was OK if a few fans desired a little more interaction. Even though there was no need for camera phones or anything of the sort, I was still pleased to talk to them. We had a nice conversation, and I believe some of them were able to let out some of their frustrations. We no longer required constant reminders of our responsibilities. One of those guys and I have crossed paths several times since, and he has much more to be glad about these days.”
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