Michael Beale and his staff were in talks regarding a potential contract extension at Queens Park Rangers before he became the subject of interest from Scottish Premiership side Rangers, according to Sky Sports.

The West London outfit previously looked to be on the up last month when the 42-year-old decided to reject an approach from Premier League outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers - a decision that was praised by many.

And with this, he looked set to remain at Loftus Road for the long term following a reasonably successful start to the season, even though their form had dipped just before the start of the World Cup break.

However, Beale had been linked strongly with the top job at Ibrox following Giovanni van Bronckhorst's dismissal during the early stages of last week, with the Daily Record revealing that the 42-year-old was the leading candidate to succeed the Dutchman in Glasgow.

The same report stated that Beale was interested in the job too - and with QPR now granting Rangers permission to speak to their manager - it looks as though he will seal an exit from Loftus Road in the coming days.

Considering Beale and his backroom team had been in talks about extending their stay in the English capital, even with the ex-Aston Villa assistant head coach's family struggling to settle in the West Midlands where he remains, his decision to make the move to the Gers may have come as a disappointment to Director of Football Les Ferdinand and other key figures at his current club.

The Verdict:

Considering how promising his start to life in London was, you can't blame QPR for giving him another deal, even with the club enduring a sticky patch of form earlier this month.

Since turning down the Wolves job, things haven't gone brilliantly and you have to wonder whether outside speculation has played a part in that because it seems like he's been linked with other jobs for a decent chunk of his time with his current side.

This speculation needs to end as quickly as possible from QPR's point of view because it could end up derailing their season - so they will just want their manager to commit to the cause now or seal a move to Ibrox as quickly as possible.

Considering he had pledged his loyalty to the club last month, he deserved to be rewarded with a new deal but they may be glad that they failed to finalise an agreement in the end with the 42-year-old seemingly doing a U-turn.

At the same time, they may have won more compensation if they had managed to get a deal over the line, so not getting this agreement finalised probably has pros and cons.