Queens Park Rangers head coach Michael Beale is set to leave the club to take over at Scottish Premiership side Rangers.

The 42-year-old, who was only appointed at Loftus Road in the summer, has guided the R's to seventh in the Championship going into the World Cup break, level with sixth-placed Millwall. Despite a poor run of form which has seen his side pick up just one point from their last four games, they remain very much in promotion contention.

Beale has attracted plenty of interest in his short spell in West London so far. In October, he turned down the job at Premier League side Wolves.

"Wolves are a fantastic football club and it was a real privilege to be asked to go and speak to them but I didn't think it was the right moment because I entered into an agreement here and integrity and loyalty are a real big thing for me," Beale told the club's official website at the time.

But talkSPORT report that QPR now expect Beale to leave the club to go to Rangers, replacing Giovanni van Bronckhorst who was sacked on Monday.

While undoubtedly Rangers are a huge football club, Beale may regret his decision to move north of the border.

Firstly, the optics of the situation are not great for Beale. While he was widely commended for his decision to stick with what he was building at QPR, leaving the club just over a month later does not say much for his commitment to the project. Beale was keen to say how integrity and loyalty were such fundamental parts of his character, but is showing none of those qualities by walking out at the next available opportunity.

Beale was assistant manager to Steven Gerrard at Rangers, including being part of the backroom staff which secured a first Scottish Premiership title in ten years and stopping bitter rivals Celtic from winning ten titles in a row.

With that in mind, Beale may feel that he has a connection with the Rangers fans and that they will welcome him having been part of previous successes.

But Beale would do well to remember that the recently departed van Bronckhorst also had a relationship with the Gers support, having made 73 appearances for the club between 1998 and 2001. He also arrived at Ibrox with a much more impressive managerial record, having won the Eredivisie and two cup competitions at Feyenoord. But any good will did not last and a large majority of fans were opposed to the Dutchman by the end.

Patience will not be on the side of Beale if he takes the job. After all, van Bronckhorst guided Rangers to the Europa League final last season, where they lost on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt. He also won the Scottish Cup and you would think that given his achievements, he would have had some credit in the bank. But he was afforded no latitude and with the club sitting nine points behind Celtic and a poor Champions League campaign, he was shown the door.

If the league is the main metric on which Beale will be judged, he is signing up for what seems like an impossible task. Celtic have lost just one league game since last September and have won 13 of their 14 games this season, including a comfortable 4-0 win over the Gers. Ange Postecoglou's side are becoming increasingly dominant at domestic level and already have significant lead at the summit, closing the gap will not be easy.

There are also legitimate questions on whether Beale is ready for such a high-pressured job. He has only managed 21 games at Championship level in what is his first job and while he has an excellent reputation within the game, he is yet to really prove his credentials.

The R's form since the speculation over the Wolves job has also been concerning. While Rangers have been an inconsistent side over the last few seasons, they have not won since Beale turned down a move to Molineux. You may have expected his decision to stay to have a galvanising effect, but it has done the opposite, with Beale perhaps distracted by the rumours.

With the Championship such a wide open division this season, there would have been a real opportunity for Beale to continue to build with QPR and to finish in the play-offs. But moving to Rangers in the intense Old Firm environment is a risk and failure could be damaging to his managerial career, even at this early stage.

It will be an incredibly difficult task for Beale at Rangers and he will need to be shown the loyalty by his new club that he has not shown to his current one.