Three things to expect from new QPR boss Beale

Michael Beale was confirmed as QPR head coach on Wednesday afternoon.

Beale was assistant to Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard, having also worked under him at Glasgow Ranges. He has also coached at Chelsea and Liverpool.

Here are three things Rangers fans can expect from the new man at the helm….

Segmented coaching

While having a specialist goalkeeping coach has been commonplace for some time, equivalents for defence, midfield and attack are not so common. But Beale is among a new breed of coaches who favour this approach and he will certainly be putting it into practice at QPR.

It also applies to areas of the game such as set-pieces. Several clubs, including Brentford, have a designated set-pieces coach and it seems that Rangers are ready to follow. Candidates for the job were asked during the interview process what they thought about the idea of a set-pieces coach. Some were dubious. Others, including Beale, were on the same page.

More trust in youth

This will not come as a surprise to anyone given Beale’s background in working with youngsters, the QPR hierarchy’s determination to portray the club’s academy as a success, and Mark Warburton’s refusal to accept that narrative, which ultimately led to a change of manager. Beale’s brief will be to prioritise the development of players, which is based largely on the simple financial realities facing the club.

There is – and never has been – an expectation that the first team should be packed with academy products. But there is an expectation that more will be done to involve them in and around the squad.

Joined-up approach

On a related note, there will be a closer link between the head coach, first-team squad and the academy and Under-23s/B team. This will come about partly because of a logistical change, with the move to a new training ground meaning that all of them will now be at the same site, working together literally as well as figuratively. But it’s also a model Beale believes in. At Chelsea and Liverpool, where he previously worked, it is common for coaches and players from the academy to integrate with the first team.