Rangers: Michael Beale on his football journey, influences and silverware at Ibrox

"No-one that works in Glasgow enjoys coming second. Second is last."

Rangers manager Michael Beale is honest in his assessment of the challenge he faces since taking over at Ibrox in November.

Second is what he inherited. Second is where Rangers remain despite being unbeaten since Beale's arrival. In all honesty, second is very likely where they'll finish this season, as he recently admitted.

But the opportunity to lift his first silverware as a manager in his own right, in the Viaplay Cup final against Celtic on Sunday, is a significant moment on his journey.

"I feel like I know this environment after the three and half years here," explained the man who served as a coach in Glasgow under Steven Gerrard.

"I'm very comfortable with it. I deal with just trying to be honest and transparent all the time. I try to give [supporters] not the answers they want, the honesty they want. All football clubs could do that a little bit more."

• Rangers boss Beale on football, family & finals - podcast

• Visit our Rangers page for all the latest news, analysis and fan views

• You can now get Rangers news notifications in the BBC Sport app - find out more

• School's out for Sakala ahead of final

By Beale's own admission, winning cups is not what he's here for. He's here for the Holy Grail, the Premiership title. That, and to be more than a one-hit wonder which was the totality, albeit a seismic one, of silverware during his last role at Ibrox.

There is one answer Rangers fans want. One that he will have to answer. How to surpass Celtic and stay there?

"It's Rangers v Rangers," he explained to BBC Scotland. "It's about us driving our standards and getting better every day. We need people that are all in.

"To be all in you've got to be happy with your role, you have to have real clarity on your role because I'm demanding that people are relentless in terms of getting better.

"For us, that's the journey we've been on. That's the journey we're going on again."

Under the spotlight with full accountability

As part of Gerrard's journey, Beale mostly went under the radar. Now he is slap bang in the spotlight and bears the full burden of expectation that comes with it.

"The expectation has always been big for me even as a youth coach at Chelsea and Liverpool - you had to play like the big team," said the former Queens Park Rangers manager.

"I'm a football obsessive. It's what drives me every day. It drives my thinking, it drives me getting out of bed in the morning.

"It's that growth mindset that excites me."

An immediate unbeaten run has banked the new manager credit. Results have been excellent. Performances have fluctuated, but they've got the job done as Beale attempts to impose his ideas quickly and the demands he expects from his squad.

"Football is played in many ways but I have a clear idea in my mind of how I want it to play in terms of owning the ball, being the most technical team, scoring goals," he explained.

"They're living their dream so when people get to watch them I want them to see on the players' faces and in their energy that they're living their dream.

"That's something that is really important to me because I feel hugely privileged to be in the position I'm in as well.

"I'm a very fortunate man to have worked at some fantastic football clubs and certainly in the case now to have a great responsibility as manager of this one."

Gaining buy-in without a playing track record

One thing Beale's predecessors, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Gerrard, could utilise was their playing careers with Champions League medals and 221 international caps between them.

That surely engineered respect from a squad which simply haven't graced such heights, albeit many did reach the Europa League final last season.

In contrast, Beale's playing career was over before it really began.

"I think that's a huge advantage to any player or any person that's been in those changing rooms and been around those managers but playing is different to managing or coaching," he said.

"I just think that the years and experience I've had as a coach and developer, it's very hard for a player to end their career and have that straight away.

"I've had over 20 years' experience in huge clubs. I've seen some of the best managers in the world at work.

"The tricks of coaching and messaging and how you put things across and how you build the blocks of a team. Team management, how you create an environment for individuals to develop.

"That's different to playing. The blend between the two was fantastic with me and Steven."

Michael Beale spent three years under Steven Gerrard at Ibrox

His coaching path weaved through futsal sessions with kids, to the Chelsea and Liverpool academies and then a first stint in first-team operations in the unlikeliest of settings as an assistant in Brazil.

That didn't last long before a return to Liverpool's academy and then the call to join Gerrard at Ibrox.

For all that coaching experience, his first-team management experience sitting in the hot-seat is very much in its infancy after just five months in London before taking the reins at Ibrox.

"I want to be a manager at a really big club, a really successful club. I'm very ambitious," he said.

"In terms of the players, they've all got huge aspirations and ambitions. Everybody coming in is generally a positive person. It's whether you feed into that.

"That's the most important part of my job for me. Working alongside talented footballers and trying to help them achieve the goals and aims they have.

"I feel that I'm at the start of my career."

Beale is at the start, and his start at Rangers has impressed.

Getting to where he wants and longevity in this journey relies on one thing. It's an honest and harsh reality. It's not being second.

Download our Scottish football podcast featuring Michael Beale's interview and you can watch more on Football Focus on Saturday from 12:00 GMT on BBC One Scotland

• Our coverage of Rangers is bigger and better than ever before - here's everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment

• Everything Rangers - go straight to all the best content