Aston Villa battle to keep Michael Beale from Blackburn and QPR – Alan Nixon
Aston Villa are battling to keep hold of Steven Gerrard’s assistant Michael Beale as two clubs fight to make him manager, Alan Nixon reports.
Blackburn and QPR are both after him to take over but he may remain at Villa Park if he receives a pay rise.
He is reportedly already on a “lucrative contract” of £600,000-a-year so it would apparently need to be a top job to tempt him away.
The Villans boss doesn’t want to lose his “right hand man” according to Nixon on Patreon, as he is considered to be the “brains” of the operation at the club.
The pair worked together at Rangers where they were successful in overhauling Celtic’s decade of dominance to win the Scottish Premiership in the 2020-21 season before making the switch to the English Premier League.
Concerning
It is often overlooked how crucial an assistant coach can be, not just for their direct influence on the team itself but on the way they help the manager work day to day.
If he were to go it would be unlikely to make all the plans at the club crumble, but if he is as crucial as he has said to be then it would be a blow to the club and the manager.
If Beale is the “brains” of the operation that does beg the question as to what that makes Gerrard, but there will surely be others who can step into the gap.
There is clearly a lot happening at Villa Park over the summer that would be an attractive proposition to be a part of, so Beale will need to be convinced that he has a chance to build something at either of the other two clubs, rather than be at risk of a quick firing if results aren’t immediately strong.
QPR are apparently pressing for a quick decision, but there is no guarantee that he goes, and Blackburn have apparently already started to consider other options.
Fans will have to hope there is a suitable succession plan in place if Beale decides he wants to make the step up now.
Disruption at this stage of the summer would at least be probably the least damaging if there were to be any.
In other Aston Villa news, Rangers star Calvin Bassey is reportedly “open” to talks over a move to the club.