Michael Beale confirms several Rangers transfers 'sorted'

Feelings ahead of the final game of the season?

It’s been an interesting first season as a manager. It obviously started in the Championship at Queen’s Park Rangers, 50 games and being back here at Rangers - I wouldn’t have thought that was possible. It’s been a whirlwind, a pleasant whirlwind, and it’s fantastic to be back at the club. You ride the wave, the ups and downs but I feel really comfortable in the job. I’ve been looking forward to the summer for the last few weeks but we will get the game out the way in the right way with a positive result. I’m really excited about pre-season, it’s not the easiest thing to come into the club half way through but I’m excited about the summer. 

Importance of getting business done early? 

There’s three or four things that we know are there. We announced Kieran last week and there’s a couple of other things that are sorted. There’s more talking and negotiations - I’m in a really positive place about where things are going. As a manager, until you see the player at the training ground, it’s never concrete but I’m pleased with the way it’s going. 

How much are you relishing a full season? 

I’m relishing everything being reset and giving ourselves the opportunity to have a strong pre-season. New players will bring a new energy and allow me to fully imprint my ideas on the team. I’ve been really happy with the players inside, even today -  the energy and attitude has always been first class. I’m really looking forward to a full pre-season, everything being reset and a lot of optimism over what we can achieve. 

Getting players ready to go from the start of next season? 

I’ve been here before in 2018 when we first started and new players came in. It’s not a new start, you are adding to things that are already up and running. We are clearly already a good team, we are adding good players to it and I’m really optimistic. Certainly in the final third, we win a lot of games and score a lot of goals but we also miss a lot of chance - Wednesday night was a prime example. We will be looking to add new players with pedigree to make us more potent. 

Anything close in terms of forward positions? 

The transfer window opens on June 14th this summer and there’s still a lot of football being played around different leagues with play-offs and cup finals. Although there’s some bits in the background, nothing will get announced imminently. 

READ MORE: Scott Arfield leaves a Rangers hero - Derek Clark 

Would you have changed anything (since returning to Rangers)? 

We’ve won a lot of games - 22 out of 28. If we go back to the semi-final and final, we had opportunities to change the outcome. We didn’t so that’s really disappointing. We did ever so well in the league to stay in there but Celtic’s form was outstanding. The summer will see lots of changes in all teams, so nothing is quite the same but resetting to zero in the league.

22 out of 28 is great form but it might need to be even better in Scotland? 

Yeah, of course. Our home form has been really good and we’ve won eight out of the last ten away from home. That sounds great but we are in a country where you can drop very, very little. In the last few weeks, we could’ve got more from Aberdeen and Celtic because of the chances we created. The season is done after tomorrow and good riddance to this season. We will come back next year and give it a good go. We’ve not had too many problems against teams in Scotland, right now, but we need to be more ruthless in the penalty box. 

Is a striker the priority in the summer? 

I think strikers, in general. We are losing players in that area of the pitch and it’s an area where we want to strengthen. 

Are you confident you can give Celtic a stronger challenge next season? 

Yeah, I am or otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here. My excitement for this summer is because I can see the summer that we are doing in the background. We are very close to what I want so I’ll be very, very pleased. We will have a really strong pre-season, implement some new things and we will come out of it a much stronger team. Mentally, the team will be in a much better place than the team I inherited because it was different to the team I left the year before. 

Benefit of getting players in for the start of pre-season? 

I think they’ve heard that every day for the past weeks. I think I’ve driven them mad a little bit since I’ve been the main person in control of recruitment and players coming on. A lot of the conversations have happened and I’ve been away meeting players in between games and training. We want players in before pre-season but we might have to be patient on one or two but we are aiming to get most of our work done quickly. We’re probably doing more work that you’d like to be doing, you’d like to add one or two but we are doing more than that. 

The importance of adding experience in the squad? 

Experience of playing in Europe, experience of playing for big clubs at the top of the leagues is more important than age. We are not going to be signing any veterans but I’m looking for players who can handle playing at Ibrox, the pressure and intensity. When I’m meeting players there will be something in their CV that I can hang on. 

Switching to three centre-backs? 

We’ve moved to a back three a hell of a lot in build-up since I came back in - probably in every game. Sometimes we go to it fully and sometimes we rotate it. John (Lundstram) is flexible and did it very well for Gio. It’s slightly different from how I want to do it but he’s very capable and he’s shown that he can do it well. 

Steven Davis’ role next season? 

He will be in and around the first-team as a normal player in terms of his rehab and then there will be a decision. I think at this moment in time, Steven has got a real burning desire to play and we want to help him to get back to that.He is a hall of fame player here and it is the wrong way for him to end in a training ground accident or incident.It is important that Steven's motivation is to come back and play and me as the coach and everyone at Rangers - from John Bennett down - wants to help him have that option.Nobody knows at the moment how that rehab is going to go at his age but the moment he is able to make the decision, then Rangers will. But certainly, in terms of as a football club when you see the send-off that the elder statesmen got - Allan and Scotty Arfield on Wednesday - in the coming years I think it's important that we start to have a little bit more of a Rangers legacy in the first-team staff and around the top-end of my academy in my opinion.You have got to pick the right people, they have got to want to do that - to go down the coaching and management route but me and my staff will certainly be there to help anyone that does want to transition.At this moment in time, Steven's full focus is on returning to play. But in 18 months Steven's [Gerrard] staff left, five or six people, Gio's [Van Bronckhorst] staff came in, five or six people, and I came in, four. That's a lot of turnaround so in that time no one was constant in Rangers.I think for continuity between first-team and the academy set-up at some point, you might see someone joining the staff.

Accumulating more points than Celtic since returning, take encouragement from that? 

I think the motivations of both teams have changed over that time so let’s be honest about that. We should’ve taken something away to Celtic but it was our own mistakes and at Aberdeen, we should’ve been 3-0 up. I’m more disappointed about those results because we could’ve had three to four more points. We conceded in the 94th minute from our mistake and I’m more focused on our own point total. 

St Mirren team selection? 

Wednesday night was for that [saying goodbye to players]. Scott Arfield had a small issue so we couldn’t start the game like Allan [McGregor] and Alfredo [Morelos]. Antonio Colak will come back into the squad in place of Alfredo and Bailey Rice for Glen Kamara. We will look forward to the game and I think Stephen Robinson has done fantastic to get top six with the budget. This is a game you sit on all summer and I don’t want it to be a disappointment. 

Timeline for new arrivals? 

There might be another one in the first week of June. But any players that we are signing permanently are in contract and will be after the 14th of June.