Steven Gerrard and Michael Beale played a crucial role in Rangers lifting 55 and stopping Celtic’s hunt for 10IAR.
With the Liverpool legend the Rangers manager, Beale was Gerrard’s assistant and the tactician behind the team that completed the journey back from the bottom tier of Scottish football.
But since the two have left Ibrox their careers have gone in different paths.
Beale left a gig alongside Gerrard at Aston Villa to pursue what ultimately proved a doomed career in football management, whilst Stevie G fluffed his Premier League lines.
But whilst neither are involved in Scottish football any longer, the man who Steven Gerrard signed to replace Michael Beale at Villa Park could now be on his way to Scotland.
Hearts close in on new manager
Scottish Premiership rivals Hearts are on the hunt for a new manager after a disastrous start to the season under Steven Naismith.
Despite finding themselves rooked to the bottom of the Scottish top flight table, the Jambos gig is still an attractive one.
Hearts are in the Europa Conference League this season and also in discussions over £10m investment from Brighton owner Tony Bloom.
They have been Scotland’s bonafide third force for the last two seasons and haven’t just lost their touch overnight.
It’s then about Hearts finding the right option to replace ex-Gers striker Naismith and according to reports south of the border, the Jambos appear to have got their man.
After a bid for Norwegian manager Per-Mathias Høgmo collapsed, our sister site Not the Old Firm were first to report that Hearts are closing in on ex-Gerrard assistant Neil Critchley.
Steven Gerrard looked to Neil Critchley
Rangers fans will remember Neil Critchley from his time working with Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa.
Critchley had been signed by Gerrard in the summer of 2022 to replace Michael Beale after his assistant took the top manager’s job at QPR in the English Championship.
It wasn’t to be a positive partnership, with Critchley being sacked alongside Steven Gerrard in October the same year.
In an interesting twist of fate, Critchley wound up replacing Beale when the ex-Ibrox assistant returned to Rangers as manager in November 2022.
Having come through the ranks of the Liverpool academy in his coaching journey, Critchley has also twice managed Blackpool and was sacked during his latest stint at the League One club in August.
According to the Daily Record, Neil Critchley is expected in Edinburgh on Monday to discuss personal terms with the manager expected to bring coaching duo Mike Garrity and Iain Brunskill north of the border with him.
The move has had a mixed reaction amongst Hearts fans as the Tynecastle club look to get their Scottish Premiership campaign back on track.
