As a Rangers player, you can make bold claims and statements as long as you do the business on the pitch. Brian Laudrup was one who let his feet do the talking and that is something that Fashion Sakala should reflect on.
The Zambian left himself open to ridicule and embarrassment with his naive comments last week on how Rangers were a much better team and club, compared to Celtic and that they would show it in Sunday’s League Cup final.
First of all, he needed to play his part which he didn’t. Especially in the second half when he fluffed his lines spectacularly with an empty net gaping. It wasn’t exactly a tap in but any Rangers attacker worth their salt should be converting that type of chance. Typically unpredictable, Sakala could only find the side netting after Ryan Kent’s effort hit the post.
The overall lacklustre performance from the team compounded the folly of Sakala’s bravado, as highlighted by the Danish legend via his Scottish Daily Mail column:
“I think another lesson was the one painfully learned by Sakala. He spoke a lot before the game, saying Rangers were better than Celtic, but didn’t back it up at all. Sakala’s performance was poor. He had a huge chance to score in the second half and didn’t take it.”
“You love his pace. It’s such a great asset, but his technique is unreliable at times. In the end, there wasn’t much behind his talk. He fell flat on his face, unfortunately, and so did Rangers. His words look silly today. Listen, everyone around football is all part of an entertainment industry, really, and it’s no crime for a footballer to make headlines with some good quotes. But in the future, I think Beale will definitely want him to do his talking on the pitch.”
Learn
With Rangers track record in cups over recent seasons, the only talking that truly matters are the words spoken in the aftermath. Save the confidence and swagger for when you have possession of the trophy.
Instead, it’s a case of Sakala looking very silly, Michael Beale having to explain his decisions with plenty to chew over and another predictable ‘apology’ from James Tavernier about how the performance was unacceptable and the levels need to improve.
Sorry captain, bt we’ve heard it all before. His interview would almost certainly have fell on deaf ears with the majority.
Action, not words are required.