Beale pleads with Ibrox board to sort out Dad’s Army deals

Micky Beale has pleaded with the Ibrox board to get his Dad’s Army veterans signed up on new deals.

When the former QPR boss came to Ibrox in November he discovered seven first team stars in the final year of their contracts to add to the loan deals on Malik Tillman and James Sands.

Almost tree months later none of those players have been offered new deals and are free to sign up elsewhere for a summer switch.

Not only are the veterans outstanding players but Allan McGregor, Ryan Jack and Scott Arfield can offer invaluable coaching and lifestyle tips to the younger players emerging from the Murray Park Conveyer Belt of promising starlets.

The Daily Record explains:

McGregor, Davis, Scott Arfield and Ryan Jack are all out of contract in the summer but have bags of experience that can be as important off the pitch as on it. And while there are no guarantees that the quartet will be around next term, Beale is keeping his options open.

“I see talk about the older players, that we need to turn them over,” he added. “I don’t think people realise the importance some people have as to why a team plays a certain way. I like to have all the seniors in and around the changing room. They are still playing, you can’t put words into their mouths and you can’t retire anyone.”

Asked if he knew what McGregor and Davis were planning at the end of their deals, Beale answered: “That’s down to the players. But with both those guys, why wouldn’t we want to tap into their experience?

“I don’t know if they want to go down the coaching route, whether it’s via the academy or the first team. I have seen that work really well during my time at Liverpool.”

For the avoidance of doubt Beale used to work for Liverpool, having a coaching role in the u-6 to u-11 areas of their Academy.