Sunderland AFC, Rangers and Aston Villa may be keeping a close eye to test Michael Beale theory | OneFootball

The Michael Beale and Steven Gerrard theory will once again be tested at Al-Ettifaq.

Michael Beale has secured a reunion with Steven Gerrard as he was appointed assistant coach at Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq.

Two years after last working together at Aston Villa, the BBC confirmed that the pair would reconcile in Saudi Arabia.

Beale has been on an indifferent path since leaving the Villains in July 2022, with jobs at Rangers, QPR and Sunderland. Whilst he showed a great deal of potential at the Hoops, his subsequent jobs at the Gers and Black Cats have been unsuccessful, leaving many to question his managerial ability.

Meanwhile, Gerrard has struggled since Beale left him, with a dreadful start to the 2022-23 season costing him his job in the Midlands. Since then, he has made the move to Al-Ettifaq but is yet to fully impress with a very middling 17 wins in 48 games.

This has left many to question whether the pair need each other to secure success and over the next six months we will likely have our answer.

Gerrard and Beale have struggled by themselves

While the data for Gerrard's time without Beale is short, it suggests that his right-hand man was a huge factor behind his initial success. At Villa, he lost 19 out of his 40 games in charge and has since been made to look a fool with the success Unai Emery has achieved with a similar squad.

Likewise, Beale's step into management has proved he may not be suited to being a head coach. Initially, his spell at QPR was a real success, but as interest arrived from Rangers, his results began to diminish, which meant he picked up just one point from his last five fixtures in charge.

Returning to Scotland without Gerrard saw the heavy expectation of winning the title arrive. Although he averaged 2.26 points per game, he wasn't able to grasp the Scottish Premiership from Celtic and three defeats in the opening seven league games of 2023-24 saw him sacked for the first time in his career.

Arriving back in England, Beale took up the Sunderland job from Tony Mowbray, declaring it a "huge honour". Once again, though, he failed to have an impact and after just 12 games, he was sacked with off-the-pitch incidents and digs at fans marring his time in charge of the Mackems.

These shortcomings have seen Beale and Gerrard rekindle their relationship and that could be the answer to their recent woes.

Gerrard and Beale will be looking for Rangers repeat

Their reunion will be closely watched by their former clubs, eager to see if they can replicate the success they achieved during their first spell at Rangers.

In charge of the Gers, they had an incredible record and took the club to their first league title since 2011. What made this even sweeter was that they managed to do it unbeaten, drawing just six of their 38 games as they dominated the league against major rivals, Celtic.

This is ultimately what earned them their stripes and while many will argue Scottish football is uncompetitive, it is no simple feat to go unbeaten.

While success won't be demanded on the same level by Al-Ettifaq, they will be desperate to see improvements with just three wins in 10 games this season. Beale could be the man to help Gerrard find that spark again and all their ex-clubs will be desperate to see if they are better as a duo rather than a solo act.