Ben Wild

Mon 13 February 2023 8:40, UK

Michael Beale’s decision to allow Patrick Thistle to equalise unopposed in Sunday’s (12 February) cup tie may have shown a weakness “unbefitting” of a Rangers manager, according to The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell.

Bizarre scenes were witnessed at Ibrox during the 3-2 win over Patrick Thistle with Malik Tillman front and centre of the controversy.

After robbing Kevin Holt as the defender looked to give the ball back to Rangers, Tillman nipped in, rounded the keeper and scored, sparking fury from the Partick players.

Beale then instructed his side to allow Partick to score unchallenged, and Scott Tiffoney duly delivered for the home side, even if Allan McGregor considered intervening.

Writing for The Athletic on Monday, (13 February), Campbell claimed, “Beale clearly did the right thing in this situation. The criticism of the Rangers manager seems to revolve around the idea that he rolled over for an enemy, that he showed weakness unbefitting of a Rangers manager, that he failed to support and protect his player.”

Nail on the head

Plenty inside Ibrox were fuming as Tiffoney ran towards the Rangers net without a defender in sight, understandably so, No fan wants to witness their side concede, no matter the circumstance.

Beale did the right thing. There would be nationwide condemnation if the Gers boss had told his side to play on as if nothing had happened.

Tillman genuinely didn’t realise what had happened. It was a simple mistake and the only way to rectify the error, according to the rules, was to allow Partick to level the scores.

The suggestion that Beale should have told his side to play on simply because ‘we are Rangers’, and that this showed some sort of weakness, is absurd.

Ultimately it could be argued that Beale got away with one because if it were Partick, rather than Rangers, who scored the eventual late winner, there would be hell on.

In other Rangers news, the Ibrox bank is set for a cash boost after a document emerged on Wednesday.