There was a positive feeling around Ibrox about Michael Beale coming into the Scottish League Cup final. But as every Rangers or Celtic coach will know, opinions can change very quickly when you in the hot seat of one of the Glasgow giants. And unfortunately for Steven Gerrard’s former assistant manager, it looks like things might be taking a turn following their 2-1 loss at the hands of Ange Postecoglou’s side at Hampden Park.
Celtic were the much better team on the day. Beale’s side might have had a response after going 2-0 down, and gotten a goal back through Alfredo Morelos, but overall, Postecoglou’s team were the deserving winners.
For the second season running, a brace from Kyogo Furuhashi determined the fate of the Scottish League Cup. On the other hand, some Rangers fans were not happy with Beale’s decisions on the day and blamed it for the defeat.
They let it be known on Twitter after the Scottish League Cup final:
Michael Beale was at fault today , 100%
— Gaz_Hamilton 🇬🇧 (@gaz_hamilton97) February 26, 2023
Beale has to take the blame for this, why did we sit off so much and wait until we were 2-0 down to make the subs
— . (@MatondoProp) February 26, 2023
Beale at fault horrible performance
— Matthew (@RfcMatthew) February 26, 2023
Rangers fans blame Beale as they lose League Cup final to Celtic
Celtic deserve a lot of credit for their performance on the day as well. Yes, they should have finished the game off at the end and did look a bit shaky for a short while. But then, you can expect that in a game of 90 minutes.
Overall, they were the much better team on the day and proved that they are the best team in Scotland right now, even if the Rangers have improved following the arrival of Beale as manager.
On the other hand, this was the Rangers’ first defeat since Beale got the Ibrox job and it will be very interesting to see how they end up responding to this setback. It will show a lot about their team, and what the Hoops can expect to face in the future.