Michael Beale will already have a player he knows well at Cardiff City, he’ll be glad he’s playing for him this time

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Cardiff City are preparing for life in League One next season and appear to have chosen the man they think will get them back to where they belong.

EFL Analysis exclusively revealed that Michael Beale is likely to be appointed Cardiff manager off the back of their first relegation to the third tier for the first time in 22 years.

Aaron Ramsey has called for change at the Bluebirds after his brief spell as interim manager and with the former Queens Park Rangers boss in line to take the reins at the south Wales outfit.

There’s likely to be a huge reshuffle ahead of their 2025/26 campaign but there will be one player that Beale will know all too well.

• READ MORE: Cardiff City fan trolled live on air by Swansea hero Ashley Williams after Championship relegation is confirmed

Michael Beale knows David Turnbull well from his Scottish Premiership days

Beale has had plenty of spells at different clubs but is perhaps best known for his time north of the border as Rangers manager.

There, he struggled to cope with the strength of their Glasgow neighbours Celtic, who had a plethora of talented players among their ranks.

One of those was David Turnbull, who was part of the Celtic side at the time. He left Parkhead for Cardiff in January 2024 but has been one of the better players in what has been a disappointing first full season with the Bluebirds.

Turnbull only featured in two of the Glasgow derby games against Rangers during Beale’s tenure as manager of the blue half of the city, where he was only able to get the upper hand on Celtic once.

Michael Beale regretted QPR exit

Before his recent struggles with Rangers, and Sunderland, Beale had emerged as one of the Championship’s most exciting managers after a blistering start to life with QPR.

He lastED little more than a few months at Loftus Road before taking the Rangers job but in an interview with Edward Lynch, the 44-year-old admitted he found it tough to leave the R’s.

“With my family being here and everything, my relationship with Rangers from the year before, it was a tough decision that I had to make. But I look back on my time with QPR with only fondness,” he said.

“It was the time that I’ve enjoyed the most as a manager, outside of maybe the first three months at Rangers, which were also very good.”