Unflinching Michael Beale gathered his beaten players on the Hampden turf and ordered them to suck up the bitter feeling of defeat in an Old Firm cup final to make them stronger for the future.
The Rangers boss suffered the first defeat of his Ibrox tenure as his team went down 2-1 to Celtic in the Viaplay Cup Final and Beale admitted his team got what it deserved. And he brought them together on the pitch after Nick Walsh’s final whistle to hammer home the message that improvement is needed if they are to challenge their rivals from across the city, who still have a Treble in their sights.
Beale said: “I told them to suck it up. It’s not nice, but on the day we didn’t come to the game until the second half in my opinion, so no qualms. On the day we lost the game and it’s not nice, so suck it up, get on board. You have to look at yourself in the mirror every day and that’s your biggest opponent. Are you being honest with that person? Are we working hard enough? Is the work we’re doing good enough?
