Steven Davis' first match in interim charge of Rangers is a Cypriot assignment against novices who offer plenty of threat.
Despite the unsettling nature of events in the days prior to their trip to Aris Limassol, Rangers go into Thursday evening's match in the knowledge that victory in Cyprus would put them in an excellent position two games into their Europa League campaign.
The Northern Irishman comes across as quiet, unassuming and thoughtful, but his pedigree in the game will surely command the respect of a dressing room in which he has been a key figure over two spells as a player. Those sentiments were reciprocated by Sam Lammers, Cyriel Dessers and Jose Cifuentes among others, each of whom gushed about Beale's philosophy, his tactical plans, his vision.
Rangers can scarcely afford another rebuild, having laid out a lot of money in the summer as well as now paying off two management teams within 12 months. In Europe for just the second time, having lost a Conference League qualifying tie against Neftci Baku last season, they also dropped down from the Champions League qualifiers before beating Slovan Bratislava to qualify for their first group stage.
His compatriot, 35-year-old Aleksey Shpilevsky, was brought in as head coach having won the league in Kazakhstan with Kairat, and promptly led Aris to their first title.
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