A lot of what Michael Beale says makes sense, it is also, usually positive and exactly the sort of thing that fans want to hear, after a meek performance against Celtic where they rarely had to get out of second gear to beat us, we have been left with more questions than answers.
The biggest issue was the obvious one, why did he drop Nico Raskin who had looked our best player in recent games and the Gers gaffer skirted around a decision that was clearly the wrong one when asked after the game, as reported by The Rangers Review:
“Since I’ve come back in I’ve tried to supply some consistency and clarity in terms of messages the team are comfortable with, that’s the same team that played ever so well in the Old Firm at new year and gave the best performance in terms of 90 minutes since I came back against Hearts. We had our goals on the pitch.
“Malik Tillman and the front three have been in fine form sine I have come back with over 20 goals in the team that was there since I’ve come back in.
“You’ve got two players [Todd Cantwell and Nico Raskin] coming in who have played two and a half games each against opponents where you’ve got the ball. There was a little bit more in terms of what we needed to do off the ball defensively and also match legs.
“I just felt at that moment I needed to shake the tree and change something. We were stronger after that because we scored, but we scored from an isolated moment before I actually made those changes.”
This would be fine, if he hadn’t picked two players in John Lundstram and Malik Tillman who have both been injured for three and two weeks respectively. They are hardly firing on all cylinders themselves, if anything, Cantwell and Raskin are fresher.
Beale went with tried and tested, the only problem is that he picked players who have let us down on so many occasions this season rather than trusting the two players who he signed, specifically, to upgrade us in an area of the park that has been struggling for some time.
I sometimes wish he would just shut up , his explanations just go round in circles and make no sense .He picked the team that drew with Celtic , not beat them, earlier in the season and beat a Hearts team that played one midfielder and allowed us to dominate. He would rather play a half fit Lundstram and Tillman than a fully fit Raskin and Cantwell , doesn`t say much for his new signings does it , that he doesn`t trust them. We can`t go into a game against them with Tillman ,even a fit one , as one of the midfield three , he just doesn`t do his share of the work and left us exposed down his side every time . Beale has been lauded as the brains behind Gerrard but personally I would rather have had S.G back .