The frustrating aspect about the league cup final defeat was that we gave Celtic a two-goal head start and that we had players on the bench who were fitter and sharper than those who were responsible for such a lacklustre display.
It was different to 2019 when the performance couldn’t have been much better and the opposition keeper walked off the pitch as the man of the match, sometimes it just isn’t your day but, Sunday was different.
Michael Beale, whether he likes it or not, will have his tenure under Steven Gerrard considered as part of his time at the club and his cup record between the two spells is nothing short of embarrassing – he needs to find a recipe for success and he needs to find one fast.
Speaking to Football Insider, Alan Hutton reckons that the Scottish Cup holds even more importance for the Gers gaffer if he doesn’t want to find himself under even more pressure going into the summer:
“I think all the eggs are in the one basket now if you really look at it.
“The league as it sits at the moment, it is going to be very difficult to claw that back. So the Scottish cup is massive for Rangers at the moment.
“They have got the easier tie at home to Raith Rovers, Celtic have got a difficult one away to Hearts. So there is an opportunity there for Beale to get silverware in his first stint back at Rangers.
“Unfortunate about the League Cup but I think the Scottish Cup is even more important now.“
Hutton is right, we will keep chipping away in the league and if we continue to win then we have done our part, however, with just 12 games left, it is highly unlikely that Celtic will drop points in a third of these.
Rangers should have won the treble in our league winning campaign, games against St Mirren and St Johnstone were a shambles, and we have seen other cup defeats since 2018 that are miles away from acceptable, Beale has to put a stop to this record if he is to succeed at the club. Starting with this season’s Scottish Cup.