As he hides in a cupboard Micky Beale is caught in a Catch 22 situation.
Does he jump back to Ibrox to take charge of a demoralised and underwhelmed squad trailing Celtic by nine points or does he do a Bobby Ewing and continue at QPR as if the last month of flirting has been washed away in the shower.
Five weeks ago Beale’s stock in the game could hardly have been higher. An approach from Wolves was rejected, an approach not a job offer, followed by numerous media interviews where he preached about the importance of loyalty.
Now, seven days after being installed as favourite to replace Giovanni van Bronckhorst he has gone into hiding. He could quickly have killed the speculation, said he was flattered, that the timing wasn’t right blah blah. Instead there hasn’t been any reaction.
QPR fans aren’t daft, they bought into the loyalty line then watched their boss preen around Ibrox then go into the World Cup break with one point from their last five matches.
Social media might cover extremes but with his Twitter closed and Instagram blocked Wikipedia was one place where QPR fans could vent their anger.
With their finger on the pulse of the big issues, the Daily Record reports:
Michael Beale was briefly branded “disloyal, lying and hypocritical” on Wikipedia amid his imminent move to Rangers – before moderators took action and protected his page due to vandalism.
Beale is the red hot favourite to replace Gio van Bronckhorst at Ibrox and is expected to be appointed shortly by the Ibrox team, who he previously served as Steven Gerrard’s assistant. The move has sparked the fury of QPR fans on social media, with many feeling he has U-turned on the loyalty he showed by rejecting an approach by Wolves earlier this season.
It seems that frustration reached all corners of the internet as an edit to his Wikipedia page read: “Michael Beale is a disloyal, lying and hypocritical English football coach who is currently manager of English Championship side Queen’s Park Rangers for the next six weeks.”
With training resuming at Murray Park on Monday David Martindale and Robbie Neilson are ensuring their phones are kept clear for the call they’ve being dreaming of.
