Sakala interview

[Bluedell 5,624]

Fashion Sakala reveals lack of Rangers 'respect' from Michael Beale as teammates stunned by brutal Ibrox axe

The Zambian left Glasgow in the summer and has revealed the frosty nature of his exit from Auchenhowie.

 

Fashion Sakala has revealed his heartbreak over his Rangers exit - with Michael Beale giving him the cold shoulder without an explanation.

 

The striker moved to the Saudi Pro League with Al-Fayha during the Londoner's summer rebuild. After moving to Glasgow from Oostende in 2021, the forward became well-liked within the support and was part of the side that reached the Europa League final. He also won a Scottish Cup while at Ibrox, and the boss who ended his Scottish spell was sacked by October.

Speaking to the Herald, the 26-year-old has revealed how his relationship with Beale crumbled, and how he wished to have had a higher amount of respect than what he was offered through moves like not allowing him into the Rangers training ground. Beale had described their relationship as "really close" and "maybe even stronger than with anyone else in the group." Sakala said: "I went back to pre-season in Germany and it was a big surprise because my pictures were not taken. I was scoring beautiful goals and my goals were not published. I could see my friends celebrating goals.

 

"When we had a team meeting, my answers were not allowed to be published. People started asking if I was there in pre-season. I was there from the beginning to the end. It was a hard one to take for me.

 

"Even if there was a club that wanted to buy me, I could have at least been respected a little bit and leave the club in a good way. Rangers was a club that I felt was like my home and receiving that treatment was so hard for me."

 

On his deteriorating relationship with Beale and Rangers exit overall, Sakala added: "That was the hard one. When I was coming back for the new season, I thought the coach would trust me. and want me there for the new season. He didn't talk to me about anything or any transfers.

 

"He clearly showed me that I wasn't part of his plans without telling me anything. The time I received a call from Mick Beale was when he told me not to come to the training ground anymore. That was hard to take for me because I didn't do anything. Players leave clubs but they are not told not to go to the training ground, not told not to be part of the team.

 

"I stayed without training with the club for almost two weeks. I think I deserved much better, I deserved to be respected at least. I understand you want to sell me to get money to buy new players, that is fine.

 

"But let me just be part of the team, let me say goodbye nicely to my team-mates. When I received a call that I shouldn’t go to the training ground anymore, I didn’t see any of my team-mates anymore. It was hard to say goodbye in such a bad way to people who looked after me so well – Tavernier, Goldson – I had to talk to them on phones when it was time to leave.

"It was hard for them to believe that I wasn’t allowed to go to the training ground anymore. It was sad the way I said goodbye to Rangers, it is very sad. I know the fans didn’t understand the role they were playing with me, but they really helped me a lot.

 

“The favour I wasn’t getting from the managers, I was getting it from the fans, I was getting it from the players. I was pushing myself every day and working hard every day to do it for them because when I do it, I knew they would be very proud of me and would be singing my song and pushing me.

 

"They played a bigger role for me there than some of the coaches I worked with at Rangers to be honest. “For me, the fans were more important than some of the coaches there. Except Gerrard, he was special.”

 

I think this may be from the Record but copied from FF

[Sutton_blows_goats 5,329]

I think you can see an example here of how Beale would have lost the dressing room and the players through these types of actions.

 

I would'nt want to work for someone who treated a colleague like this. I'd imagine footballers would be the same.

 

And this is but one example of how he operated.

 

Bottom line was he was a decent squad player that couldnt be counted on to do it when it mattered. There is a way to move players on and the path beale chose here likley alienated others.

[Gonzo79 15,292]

Everything about Beale being manager was a mistake, with the exception of signing Butland. 

[Bluedell 5,624]

With anyone else, you may think that there was a bit of spin on it, but Sakala comes across as a genuine and truthful guy, and it's damning on Beale.

[Malangsob 1,264]

Ahhhh...little bit of sociopathy there Mike?

 

Another piece to the puzzle.

 

I bet he was a dream to work with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ranger_syntax 4,320]

This is a heart warming story.

 

We can only hope that our current manager has the stomach for a series of constructive dismissals.

 

Not looking forward to this turning into a twenty page thread about bringing Sakala back.

[stewarty 2,025]

Hard not to agree with Sakala's view that he could at least have been allowed the chance to say goodbye and to train with the squad, even if he wasn't part of the manager's plans.   Its a harsh environment though, and freezing players out is probably more common than we realise, otherwise players might not be incentivised to direct their agents to get them a move and could well sit there running down their contract but with little chance of getting regular minutes.

[Graeme Ro55 759]

I will always remember Sakala with a smile, MB on the other hand, not so much.

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Graeme Ro55

[Gonzo79 15,292]

2 hours ago, stewarty said:

Its a harsh environment though, and freezing players out is probably more common than we realise

It does seem fairly common and I don't think how Beale treated Sakala is particularly extraordinary. 

[Bluedell 5,624]

17 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

It does seem fairly common and I don't think how Beale treated Sakala is particularly extraordinary. 

You'd have thought that he would be told in advance that he should find a new club and not have the freezing-out as a surprise, which appears to be what happened.