Michael Beale reckons Rangers sent their fans home happy after a day of discord at Ibrox.
The Light Blues booked their place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals with a straightforward win over Raith Rovers but it was played out against an eerie backdrop, with Ibrox largely hushed for much of the game after the Union Bears opted to stay away over a banner dispute. Beale was staying out of the row but believes the fans who did show up got what they came to see after goals from Connor Goldson and Scott Arfield either side of a Ryan Nolan OG sealed victory.
He said: “I don’t really know what’s going on there, I just felt there was a level of expectation from the crowd in the stadium today, it was a slow game and everyone was expecting us to be free-flowing like we were in midweek. But styles make games and they stayed in and made it difficult at times. They had 10 players around their 18-yard box and they were blocking little things.
“That’s fine, we had to find a way to get through that. The really top teams who pay millions for their players find those moments difficult - we’ll go away and work on it. In terms of the fans, in a quarter-final they expect a lot. We played well in midweek and I know they were happy with that and I’m sure they’ll be happy they’re going back to Hampden.”
Gers chiefs yesterday said they refused to allow the Union Bears to display a controversial banner targeting cops - but insisted the no show was the ultras’ call. A Rangers spokesperson said: “Rangers refused to allow an offensive banner relating to the police service to be displayed at today’s match. The Union Bears elected to absent themselves from the stadium because the club would not permit the offensive anti-police banner display.”
The fan group hit headlines when they revealed an anti-board banner during last week’s Kilmarnock clash demanding “change” at the top of the marble staircase. And they hit back at the club’s version of events to yesterday’s events with their own statement, saying: “Union Bears had planned to display various legitimate message banners at today’s match highlighting different issues surrounding our club and support.
“Prior to the match Police Scotland and Rangers FC jointly removed these materials without our knowledge and blocked access to regular matchday materials. From Rangers FC this is a clear breakdown of trust and an attempt to silence our groups’ valid concerns.
“As a consequence, we made the difficult decision to remove active support and not enter the ground as a group. This attempt to suppress the feelings amongst the Rangers support will not be successful and only stands to confirm the concerns that the fans hold.”
Meanwhile, Rangers now go into tonight’s draw for the last four and Beale underlined the importance of the competition as his team look to ensure they do not finish the campaign empty-handed. Asked if he had a preference over who Gers faced in the Hampden semi, he said: “We are going to have to beat two teams to win the trophy. That is our aim, to retain it.
“There are 10 league games left and hopefully two in the Scottish Cup. It is the last game of the season, it would be a fantastic way to end the season and go into next season with lots of optimism for our fans.
"One thing I will say is that it is fantastic for the competition that two teams from outside the top league have got there because they have had to fight tooth and nail to get to this stage and they have earned it. Whatever two teams are in the hat with Celtic and ourselves, we need to beat two teams to win the trophy.”
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