Daniel Feliciano

Mon 27 February 2023 21:51, UK

Andy Halliday has admitted that it was a “real shock” that Michael Beale left Nicolas Raskin out of his Rangers starting lineup for the Viaplay Cup final clash against Celtic.

Beale stunned fans by going with a midfield partnership of Glen Kamara and John Lundstram at Hampden Park, leaving January signing Raskin on the substitutes bench.

And speaking on Clyde 1 (27 February), Halliday has admitted he was surprised by the decision considering how much the club pushed to get his signature over the line in January rather than waiting until the summer.

“Listen, it’s been the same movie. Celtic have won 22 trophies in the span that Rangers have won two so there’s going to be a lot of frustration,” he said.

“In terms of taking the game in isolation, the omission of Raskin was a real shock for me.

“I look at Michael Beale’s desire to get Raskin in in January…when you look at when Rangers were initially talking about a pre-contract and getting Raskin in the summer but they wanted it over the line now, surely it was for games like this?

“That’s why, for me, I thought it was a no-brainer for him to start the game. So for him to not then start the game was a real shock.”

Baffling

You’re not the only one who was baffled and surprised Andy, because most Rangers fans couldn’t believe it either.

Raskin has shone in his appearances for Rangers so far, but there had been some concern from Michael Beale about his physical attributes after he failed to train for much of the week following his debut due to fatigue.

But with Lundstram struggling for fitness all week and Kamara’s form far from what we’re used to seeing from him at Ibrox, this was the perfect occasion to use Raskin.

It was the whole reason he was brought in to the club, and the whole reason Beale was adamant he wanted to bring him in during the January window.

Instead he let the opportunity pass him by and now it will forever be a massive ‘what-if’ moment in both his and Raskin’s Ibrox career.

We’ll never know what difference it would have made to have him in from the start, but we know we got better once he came on.

In other Rangers news, the fans must do more to get Douglas Park and Ross Wilson out of the club because enough is enough.