EX-RANGERS coach Michael Beale has sent his support to newly-appointed Ibrox boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

The former member of the backroom staff left Rangers last week to follow Steven Gerrard to Aston Villa.

But he's clearly keeping his eyes on developments at Ibrox as he was quick to send a social media message to Van Bronckhorst this evening.

Sharing the Tweet officially confirming Van Bronckhorst's appointment this evening, Beale congratulated the new manager.

He went on to share his hopes of watching the team "play and develop under his leadership".

Beales post on Twitter read: "Congratulations and good luck to Gio, @The_real_Gio the staff and the players - excited to see the team play & develop under his leadership".

Rangers fans appreciated the post from the well-liked coach as they hailed his "class" message to the new Ibrox manager.

One wrote: "Class act as always Micheal. Time for the next episode. Thanks for leaving us better than you found us."

Another commented: "We’ll miss you Michael, that’s for sure. Excellent coach, even better bloke."

And a third posted: "Was gutted you guys left when you did, but you transformed our team & club, you performed miracles.

"You left us in a far better place! All the best sir! We carry on. Go Gio!!!"