Celtic got their hands on another trophy, as Ange Postecoglou’s side won the Scottish League Cup final against the Rangers by a 2-1 scoreline. On the other hand, it was a day to forget for the Ibrox side, who seemed to enter Hampden Park with a lot of confidence but failed to show much of substance on the day.
The scoreline does not tell the story of the match. Except for a spell after going 2-0 down, the Rangers were second best in all departments on the day.
Alfredo Morelos might have grabbed them a goal back, but they could not find a second. In fact, Celtic could have easily scored three or four, if they were more clinical with their finishing late on in the game. It was not as close as the 2-1 scoreline suggests.
And a lot of Rangers fans appeared to blame the manager for selecting the wrong team on the day, which they believe led to the defeat. A Twitter search of ‘Beale fault’ would bring up some pretty entertaining tweets for Celtic supporters.
Rangers fans turn on Beale for final defeat to Celtic
While the Rangers might have improved since the arrival of Beale, it is clear that there is still a long way to go for them. The final was their first taste of defeat under the new manager.
At the same time, as we have always maintained, it is way too early to declare Beale a managerial success story at Ibrox. Giovanni van Bronckhorst led the team to a Scottish Cup triumph and an unlikely spot in the UEFA Europa League final just last season. He was shown the exit door a few months into this campaign.
Postecoglou seems to be as safe as can be in the Parkhead hot seat though, with the fans and the club completely behind him.