Rangers manager Michael Beale has been expressing his sympathy for Ian McCall after the manager was sacked following the Ibrox Scottish Cup victory over Partick Thistle.
The news of McCall’s sacking came as a surprise to plenty after the Jags put in a solid showing at Ibrox, eventually succumbing to a late James Sands deflected header to lose the tie 3-2.
Rangers manager Michael Beale pointed to this as he launched a defence of Ian McCall and claimed that his Championship Partick Thistle team put up more a fight at Ibrox than plenty of Premiership sides.
“I was actually [surprised] because I thought his team played ever so well on the day and put in a stronger performance than some of the teams in the SPFL coming to Ibrox,” said Michael Beale ahead of Rangers’ Premiership clash with Livingston [Rangers].
“I did warn the players of that, they did have good experience in their ranks of guys who had come to play at Ibrox and been in our league. I was surprised.
“It was an interesting day on Sunday. I haven’t had many days like that in football. I felt quite flat coming away from the stadium because a lot had happened and then I heard about Ian’s situation.
“I thought ‘wow, how much can happen in one day in football.’ It is what it is. An interesting day and some parts of it were not so nice.”
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Michael Beale sympathises with Ian McCall
Ian McCall – who turned out for Rangers briefly in the 1980s – was sacked by Partick Thistle with the club 5th in the Scottish Championship and ten points off Queen’s Park at the top.
Rangers boss Michael Beale has previously talked up his relationship with Ian McCall, who he described as someone he is friendly with outside of football ahead of the clash with Partick Thistle.
It’s clear that the axe swinging on McCall after defeat to his side has affected Beale but Rangers had to progress to the next round of the Scottish Cup somehow.
Rangers have been rewarded with a home tie against Raith Rovers in the Quarter Final and will be hoping to retain the trophy they won last season.
Meanwhile, a decision appears to have made on Allan McGregor.