Ty Bracey: Aston Villa definitely feeling loss of Michael Beale
We’re delighted to welcome Villa View host Ty Bracey as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…
Aston Villa will definitely be feeling the effects of Steven Gerrard losing his right-hand man Michael Beale this season says Ty Bracey.
The former Villans assistant left in the summer to pursue his own managerial career at QPR, to be replaced by Blackpool manager Neil Critchley, breaking up a partnership that had won the Scottish title with Rangers.
And Bracey believes that it is inevitable that the Villa Park boss would be having to cope with a difficult adjustment period in the circumstances and that Beale is ultimately destined for the top in his own right.
He exclusively told Villa News: “I think when you’re so used to having somebody, he was Gerrard’s number two at Rangers.
“So it’s kind of like losing your sidekick at work in any company you work for isn’t it?
“So it’s going to have taken some toll on him but I think Critchley was a worthy replacement for Beale but we’re of course going to suffer with him going.
“Not so much suffer, but it’s one of those things where they’ve worked so closely alongside each other in Gerrard’s managerial career that losing that’s probably hard isn’t it?
“I think Critchley is the right man. He’s left a managerial role at Blackpool to come and play number two at Villa so fair play to the bloke, but it’s going to take some time.
“We’ll definitely be feeling him losing his number two absolutely.
“Beale hasn’t walked into a role at Rangers and then a role at Aston Villa. He’s started at a club at a decent level and I think he’ll work his way all the way up to the top.
“I think he’ll be a Premier League manager one day. I think he’s got the brains for it and I think he’s the calibre of person for it.
“He’s a leader so I think we’ll definitely see Michael Beale managing in the Premier League one day, that’s for sure.”
When you have an assistant coach in your team as highly rated as Beale there will always come a point where they are ready to make the step up, and it is rare to see someone step down from manager to assistant as Critchley has.
The Lions have replaced the now-Loftus Road boss as best they reasonably could, but considering how important the departed man was to Gerrard there may be some of the lingering effects present in the difficult start to the season.
If the club and the manager can weather that storm as they appear to be doing after a second win over Southampton on Friday night (16 September) then it will come as a major relief to the fans and should restore some confidence that the current set up is adjusting to a significant loss.
In other Aston Villa news, the club have entered the Forbes top 20 for most valuable football clubs in the world.