Dujon Sterling has made an admission that only highlights how bad a decision it was to take Michael Beale on board as manager at Rangers, and how better off Rangers are with him not being the boss.

Following on from Jack Butland’s subtle digs at the ex-boss in recent days in the press, Rangers’ increasingly-pivotal utility man explained how then-new manager Philippe Clement couldn’t understand why the 24-year-old wasn’t playing, given how impressive he was in training.

He said:

“It just shows you how quickly football can change. You just have to keep working every day as I was doing. This gaffer has come in and seen what I was doing every day on the training pitch. He said to me, ‘I don’t understand why you aren’t playing.’ He had the confidence and the belief in me to play me. I’ve got to thank him.”

Now, nothing else highlights the literal b*llsh*t Beale used to come out with – his comments at the time of signing Sterling were, as usual, to say he’s tracked the kid, a RB, forever, worked with him at Chelsea/Liverpool/Barnet, and he was a big signing to get to this club. The implication being this lad will play.

But Rangers fans saw neither sight nor sound of Sterling, and while that was often dismissed by some due to James Tavernier’s immunity to being dropped, it’s clear that under Clement, that just isn’t a reason.

Sterling, when fit, has been a pivotal cog in the Clement machine – while he’d completely confirm, and has, that his best position is now midfield, and indeed that’s where he played as a youth product of the Stamford Bridge giants, he is flexible to play anywhere, and that versatility had Clement baffled as to why he wasn’t playing at all.

That’s changed now.

Sterling is a talent – strong, quick, powerful, he’s epic in the middle but we don’t expect to see much of him there now – this manager uses his flexible side, and that will see whatever position the boss wants to see him in.

Either way, it only reinforces what a bad choice Beale was, and how much better Rangers are without him.