When Michael Beale left Glasgow a year ago Rangers were the city’s top dogs. They were reigning Premiership champions and at the league’s summit.
They’d already beaten Ange Postecoglou’s new-look Celtic 1-0 at Ibrox thanks to a Filip Helander header. But following his departure, along with manager Steven Gerrard, to Aston Villa, domestically at least - Rangers capitulated. And since their oldest rivals took over, they haven’t looked back.
Rangers are now the ones doing the chasing. And as Gers’ new gaffer, it’s his job to catch them up. Instead of being top dogs - they’re the underdogs. Certainly, when it comes to trying to claw their way back into this season’s title race. The Ibrox side have lost four of the five Old Firm derbies since Beale left, conceding 10 goals in the process. For the last one - a 4-0 hammering at Parkhead - even as QPR boss, he winced at the highlights.
He’s full of admiration for the job Postecoglou has done at Celtic. But Beale refuses to accept that there’s a chasm between the two teams.
When the next meet in Govan on January 2, he’ll get his first taste of it as the boss. But that’s NOT the 42-year-old’s priority.
He’s excited to go head-to-head with the Aussie on the other side of Glasgow. But Beale says his first task is getting these current Rangers players to beat everyone else in the league first.
He said: “I would agree that we have underdog status right now, we’re the chasing team. And right now, we can’t expect anything because the last couple of games against Celtic haven’t got anywhere near where we’d want them to be.
“So how do you get that back? It takes time. You can’t just click your fingers and say: ‘Remember that time when we won there’, and everyone falls back into it.
“It took time to build that up, it took us a couple of years. Where we are now is really disappointing compared to where we sat a year ago, in terms of the domestic game.
“They have momentum, don’t they? Ange talks really positively. He came in, he rode the wave of where we were and just got down to work.
“He’s seen the fruits of his labour. I’ve now got to go on that journey myself and I want it to be very short. Celtic have a lot more rhythm now than when we beat them (Postecoglou’s first derby).
“It’s fair to say we were the bosses around here back then. So let’s see. My mind right now isn’t on the league table.
“It’s about, can this team get to where I want them to be as quickly as possible? Can we start winning games again? I can’t worry about the other stuff.
“I know if I stick to the vision I have for this team and the players come along and enjoy it - I’m going to make a strong Rangers. If I make a strong Rangers, that will give us a really good chance and when those Old Firm games come round, we’ll give it everything we have."
Those derby defeats - a 3-0 and a 4-0 - in the last year hurt Beale as a supporter of the club. Somehow, he has to shift that balance of power again.
But that doesn’t happen just by beating Celtic in one-off derby games. He said: “How important is the Old Firm fixture when it comes to dominating Scottish football?
“Well, it would be a lot more important if we hadn’t already dropped seven points in the league, like we’ve done recently. If we hadn’t, that one result could have jumped you to where you want to be.
“But now, we have to prove we can beat everyone else consistently - then make that game what it is. As a one-off when you play, it’s a rivalry, it’s a derby, it’s got everything. It’s the best game in the world, we know that. It’s electric.
“But unless you join up the dots in between those games, you have no right to wait for the Celtic fixture. That’s where we’ve fallen short in my previous time here and already this season so far.
“You have to join up those dots to make the Celtic games massive. When we were trying to win the league here before, I always wanted the last Old Firm match not to count.
“In the season we won it, the last two didn’t count because it was done. I’m sure that’s no different to Ange across the road.
“I was excited to watch the first derby after I left. For the last one, I was travelling to play Swansea away at the time. I saw the result but didn’t really want to watch the highlights.
“I was surprised. But these games can go that way. Celtic scored early and that was a lift-off for their fans because there was relief.”
Beale will have to topple Postecoglou if he’s to succeed - and survive - in Glasgow. The early signs are that he’s got the character, personality and belief to go toe-to-toe with the Aussie.
And Beale says his blueprint won’t be dissimilar to other gaffers who have eventually reigned supreme at the Old Firm. He said: “I have a lot of respect for Ange, he’s done a very good job so far.
"He’s got a vision, he’s recruited towards it and followed the model all successful Old Firm managers have, whether it’s been Brendan Rodgers, Graeme Souness, Walter Smith, Steven Gerrard. Whoever has been successful here, they’ve had a vision.
"They’ve recruited and then worked towards that every day. It’s not been perfect. And at times your big rival might be much stronger or weaker.
“Financially in the last few years, we’ve been weaker so the turnaround we had under Steven was incredible. When we first arrived I remember people saying it was going to take £100 million to do it.
“Well it didn’t. It cost some money but a lot of hard work in Europe to refinance things. It also took a lot of good coaching and recruitment.
“Every time a manager does well, they go through that path. They have that vision that drives decision-making. And every now and then the ball bounces in your favour.”
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