And the Englishman will do so continuing to believe a banner unfurled by a section of the club’s support at Livingston last weekend that set out the current haul of two honours in that period - the historic 2020-21 unbeaten championship success for which he was first-team coach in the Steven Gerrard regime and last season’s Scottish Cup win under Giovanni van Bronckhorst - was a dig at him. An assumption based on the sign going on to declare “uphold the standards that matter”, in what was taken as a reference to his sportsmanship in allowing Partick Thistle a free goal in the immediate aftermath of Rangers scoring in what was regarded as unsporting fashion during their recent Scottish Cup tie.
Asked if he considered the banner a “slight” on him, Beale revealed there had been contact with the supporters responsible for it to petition that this was not their intention. An explanation that seemed to cut little ice with the Rangers manager, even as he sought to move on from the incident. “They reached out to me personally to say it wasn’t but I thought it was, to be honest. I did take it personally. It’s one of those things. We have fans all the way around the world. That’s a small minority of our fans, they’re very passionate and I think they do a lot of good things.
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Hide Ad“They pay their money and they come and support the team, they’re allowed to voice their opinion. I explained that I would have preferred it not to be in that way and at the moment. But it’s fine, everyone has their own opinions on the game. It’s important we stick together, it’s important our fans are with us and we’re united because when we are, we’re a very strong club. So, it’s fine. The fans are allowed to voice their opinions. I was a fan before I was a manager, so I do get it.”