Rangers’ interest in Mick Beale poses an unwelcome headache for QPR so soon after the highly-rated head coach turned down a move to Premier League strugglers Wolves, former R’s favourite Paul Parker tells the Daily Record.
When Wolverhampton Wanderers stepped up their pursuit of Beale in mid-October, QPR were flying high at the top of the Championship table. A month on, they aren’t even in the play-offs.
Coincidence or not, all that speculation certainly seems have had a derailing effect on QPR’s season. Even after Beale decided to rebuff Wolves’ advances and stay loyal to his West London employers, QPR suffered four defeats in five games, heading into the World Cup break all the way down in seventh.
And yet more uncertainty surrounding Beale’s future, with Rangers hoping to lure the 42-year-old back to Ibrox, feels like another unwelcome distraction for a side hoping to bring an end to their near-eight year absence from the Premier League.
Would Mick Beale take the Rangers job?
“(QPR) has been looking for continuity since they were relegated (in 2015). And the last thing they need is a manager who is sticking his hand up for every job that becomes available,” says Parker, who played over 100 league games for the Londoners before joining Manchester United.
“Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand the attraction of Rangers.
“I thought he made the right decision not to go to Wolves but there was so much speculation around that time and QPR haven’t won a game since. I felt this break for the World Cup would have given them the opportunity to regroup and get ready to go again but now the Rangers link has come up.
“That’s why I feel it’s really important for Michael to come out and make a statement and put it all to bed.”
According to the Record, Beale is intrigued by the prospect of picking up where he left off at Ibrox. He assisted Steven Gerrard during Rangers’ 2020/21 ‘Invincibles’ season before following his long-time confidante to Aston Villa.
“He might feel the opportunity to go back there as his own man is too good. The Wolves job would have been in a more competitive league,” Parker adds. “But then there is the uncertainty as a Premier League boss. You could be out of a job in six months.
“At Rangers, the main priority is to be better than Celtic. But and there is also the attraction of European football. I understand all of that and the appeal. But I just feel it’s important from a QPR point of view that we know what his feelings are on it.”
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