Rangers assistant coach Michael Beale has been linked with the vacant Cardiff City job following the firing of Mick McCarthy and a club record trail of recent losses.

The most valued member of Gerrard’s team, Beale is the most proactive coach in training, and effectively carries out the ‘Walter Smith’ role to Gerrard’s Souness, where the actual ‘coach’ of Rangers is Beale but Gerrard is the boss who makes the calls.

As Souness once said, Smith was the real boss, and when he was out there as player manager back in the day, he was following his instruction, not the other way around.

And in this case, while Gerrard is on the sidelines these days, much of the tactical acumen and formations of Rangers are Beale’s brainchild.

His impressive stock has reportedly alerted Cardiff, and while there’s as yet no offer on the table we are aware of, Beale is on City’s radar.

The former Liverpool coach has said his ultimate goal is to become a manager in his own right, but whether he’d be content with this particular opportunity as a starting point we couldn’t tell you.

More as this develops.