Rangers show clear change under Michael Beale as star explains with Celtic 'incentive' on the horizon

When the full-time whistle blew in Paisley on November 12 after a 1-1 draw with St Mirren, something clearly had to change at Rangers. Both points and performances were no longer there for Giovanni van Bronckhorst. A toxic combination, no matter what level you operate at.

Something did change with the arrival of Michael Beale to replace the Dutchman and Borna Barisic was perfectly placed to witness the change, having left to go to the World Cup with Croatia and arriving back well into December when the new manager had his feet under the table.

The left-back noticed a mentality shift. The fans have noticed a shift in results, winning five of six in the league and progressing to the Viaplay Cup final, while Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin noticed a change in how the team operates on the field. “Van Bronckhorst had the wide men on the touchline really high and wide. Whereas Michael Beale likes to bring in those wide players a little bit narrower and try to play through the middle areas of the pitch,” the Dons manager remarked.

What Beale is doing appears to be working, slowly but surely, building blocks put in place, even if the performance level needs to increase further if the team are to have any chance of closing a nine-point gap at the top of the Premiership.

“We are building momentum and we have done that since Mick came here,” Barisic said. “Obviously I haven’t been here [since the start] but when I came back from the World Cup I could see the mentality and what he wanted to do. We have trained very good. That is the process. He brings a lot of good things but nothing can happen overnight. We will spend some time to build and bring back everything that we had before. We are in a good way and I think we are building confidence and style and everything through the training sessions and then trying to do that on the pitch. I think everyone can see that.”

Celtic incentive

That momentum can be expedited with a cup win. Cup wins which have been few and far between. The nature of the League Cup, its placing in the calendar can act as a slingshot into the remainder of the season, especially with the “incentive” of beating rivals Celtic.

All that being said, Rangers will need to avoid the predicament of falling behind. Barisic noted how it was a "positive", the team’s ability, to bounce back but there is only so much a team can return to that well of “character” and “mentality” to overturn such situations.

Rangers ace Borna Barisic started in the 2-1 win over Aberdeen in the Viaplay Cup semi-final. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

"If you want to win something, you need to have that character and that kind of mentality,” Barisic said. “We had that before, we showed that again. It is a positive. It is a big incentive [against Celtic]. It is big for the players, for the club, for the fans. We are looking forward to the final and it will be a big game. The manager wants to win, of course. He put in our minds that we want to win something this season. We know that when you play for Rangers, you have to win. It is nothing new.”