Beale: My focus is on QPR

Mick Beale insists he will not be distracted by reports linking him with the manager’s jobs at Wolves and Rangers.

Beale has made an impressive start to his reign at QPR – his first managerial role – and his team are fourth in the Championship table.

He arrived at Loftus Road after a spell as Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard’s assistant, having previously helped him guide Rangers to the Scottish Premiership title.

Beale has been touted as a possible successor to Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who appears to be under some pressure at the Glasgow club.

And Midlands publication the Express & Star have reported that Beale is being considered for the vacant position at Wolves.

QPR have not received an approach for Beale, who met with R’s director of football Les Ferdinand on Monday.

“I’ve been a bit surprised by the amount of noise,” Beale said.

“There has been a bit of noise but I had a really honest face-to-face conversation with Les Ferdinand yesterday. The club’s not had contact. I’ve not had direct contact either.”

Noise about QPR

Prior to a defeat at Luton on Saturday, Beale’s side had won three matches in a row, beating then leaders Sheffield United and fellow high-flyers Reading.

They now face two home games in the space of three days, hosting Cardiff on Wednesday and Wigan on Saturday.

Beale said: “At the moment, it’s my first job, and I could not be happier with how things are going – with the owners, the staff, the players. I’m in a great place in my personal life with my family as well.

“The outside noise is not that important to me and the only thing I can draw from it is that as a football club we must be doing quite well. If anything, I can take confidence from it.

“My focus is here on the huge games this week for the club and getting back onto a positive light after a really disappointing day on Saturday.”

He added: “I want there to be noise about QPR. I want there to be noise about our best players. I want there to be noise about myself and the management team – and it is a team, it’s not my show, it’s everybody here.

“I want there to be noise because I want us to be doing well. That’s my job.

“What I don’t want is the outside noise to break anything we’ve got inside, because what we’ve got inside and what we’re building is something that really excites me. My focus is on that.

“When I see the stuff about Wolves, it’s a compliment to everybody at QPR. When I see the stuff about Rangers, I have to be really careful there because Giovanni van Bronckhorst has done a fantastic job there – he’s won a cup and got to a Europa League final.

“So, I’m not going to talk about that (Rangers) and at this moment in time I have no right to talk about the Wolves situation either because there’s no contact and the people here have given me a big opportunity. This is where my focus is right this second.”

‘Huge aspirations’

Beale, 42, has made no secret of his ambition to manage at the highest level.

Asked if he would turn down an offer if an approach was made, he said: “You don’t know what’s going to come tomorrow.

“We’ve been riding a crest of a wave and doing well. If the results go the other way, football’s up and down.

“In the future, I have huge aspirations. I’ve always been honest about that – to go and work and coach at the top level.

“But we only live in today. I have a wonderful job. I have owners that support me. I’ve got a really strong management team and the players are 100% with me.

“Those things, as a manager, are a gift, so I don’t want to speculate at all about the future.

“It’s obvious that I’m ambitious. It’s obvious that the players here at QPR want to go and play in the Premier League and I want to go and manage there and in Europe and above.

“But you deal with today, and today I’m the manager of QPR.”