Michael Beale earns Rangers cheerleader in former Gio lieutenant as he calls for fan 'realisation' during transition

Beale has enjoyed an unbeaten start to life at Ibrox and Ceri Bowley hopes he is given time by the support to catch Celtic.

Ceri Bowley walked away from Rangers harbouring regrets that he never got to sample the febrile atmosphere of an Ibrox Old Firm clash.

But Gio van Bronckhorst’s former sidekick just hopes his old employers are not left kicking themselves too by failing to learn lessons from the Dutchman’s doomed tenure. Just like his successor Michael Beale, van Bronckhorst enjoyed honeymoon period as he settled into his new Govan surroundings. A couple of bumps on the road at Pittodrie and Dingwall apart, things appeared to be running smoothly for the former Feyenoord boss as he quickly built up a 13-game unbeaten run.

But the wheels well and truly fell off Rangers’ Premiership push with that Parkhead thumping last February, with Celtic motoring away to reclaim their title. Those league failings, though, were masked over as GVB took the Ibrox faithful on their Seville thrill ride. Yet there was simply nowhere for his side’s shortcomings to hide this term as Gers were ragdolled by the European elite on their return to the Champions League.

The spiralling effect those humiliating results had on plummeting domestic displays ultimately cost van Bronckhorst his position as he made way for Beale to take over late last year. Six games in and it’s so far so good for the Londoner following five wins and a draw.

But former City Football Group coaching guru Bowley just hopes history does not repeat itself as he warned patience will be required as Rangers go through what could be some testing growing pains under their new boss. Bowley, who quit the club after van Bronckhorst’s sacking, said: “The bit you can never get away from with Glasgow Rangers is that you have to win.

“Domestically we took a hit in some results. That will never be acceptable at a club like Rangers. Historically and also now, it’s never going to be possible to lose or draw games because you have to win.

“What I'll say is that it’s a very special club and I loved every minute of being there. Obviously I wish it could have gone on a lot longer than it did.

“But it will always hold a special place mainly because of the fans. How they support their club is incredible. But working there comes with a responsibility and the fans don’t hesitate to hold you accountable.

“That’s fine, they pay their money and follow you around the world and have a right to voice their frustration when things aren’t at the level they expect. No complaints from me there.

“But there has to be a realisation that when you’re in a transitional period, then it does take more time. The fans will hate me for saying it, I know, because that’s just not accepted.

“But somethings do take time and when you look at teams that arrive in the final stages of competitions year after year, they have been through a process to get there. Take Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp. It didn’t start with them winning right away.

“So competing in the Champions League for the first time in so many years for Rangers was important. But the manner the group unfolded was very difficult and that didn’t play out so well (with the fans).

“But you almost have to arrive at those stages for a number of years first. Look at Spain before they won the World Cup and the Euros, they started to arrive in those final stages before actually doing it.

“France are the same. Germany too, almost getting there before winning (the World Cup). So I think there’s got to be a realisation around that and some of the misconceptions around a methodology is that you can just implement it overnight.”

Bowley, who holds a PHD in sport psychology and coaching science, joined van Bronckhorst’s coaching staff last summer, with the Welshman brought into apply the methods he’d developed with his globetrotting role at the CFG, where he’d been responsible for raising coaching standards at Manchester City’s 11-sister clubs.

It was hoped his unique one-on-one approach would help bring the best out of the Ibrox individuals. But he admits Gers’ hectic workload hampered his efforts before he chose to depart along with van Bronckhorst’s backroom team.

“What you have to remember is that a lot of the time with Rangers, we were playing three games in six days and there was very little training time anyway, let alone individual training time,” he said. “With other teams in the (City Group), we had more training time that what we were blessed with (at Rangers) partly because of the schedule with the Champions League and other competitions. It just made training a little more difficult.”

Bowley had been eagerly eyeing last week’s derby clash and confessed it still stings that he did not get to see Ibrox in full voice when hosting their bitter rivals. And the football doctor admits he’s still scarred by September’s Parkhead pasting.

The 35-year-old - who has quickly landed a new job as technical advisor to the ENCL youth league in the United States - told the Coaching Academy on American radio station SiriusXM FC: “The derby is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. And that’s not just when the Old Firms are being played. The intensity is there every day.

“One of the things I’m most disappointed about is that I never experienced an Old Firm at Ibrox. The one I had was at Parkhead and the result wasn’t favourable for us.

“But you feel it all the way through the week leading up to the game, the importance of it. One of my biggest disappointments was the score at Parkhead because that’s not what Rangers want and it’s devastating when you lose that way and it affects you for a long time.

“It did me and it will always scar me in that way because it was my one and only Old Firm unfortunately. That’s one thing I’m really gutted about.

“And the League Cup semi-final at Hampden that we qualified for but won’t get to be at is another one because those moments are special for a club like Rangers because of the level of support you get and the atmosphere they create. They’re unbelievable.”

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