Celtic expert slams unprepared Michael Beale as Rangers footage re-analysed
Frank McAvennie has claimed Michael Beale should have been better prepared when Rangers came up against Celtic in the League Cup final last weekend.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Hoops striker said it "wasn't a good game" even though the Celts came out on top.
As shown on Viaplay Sports (26 February), despite a tough second half, the Hoops beat their Glasgow rivals 2-1 in the Viaplay Cup final.
Not only did the Gers miss out on their first chance of silverware of the season, but they also suffered their first defeat under new manager Michael Beale.
As quoted by The Herald after the defeat, captain James Tavernier slammed his side's "unacceptable" performance and failure to get a much-needed result "when it mattered".
Beale has received criticism from fans for choosing to start John Lundstram, who had been injured since the beginning of February, instead of January signings Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin.
McAvennie couldn't understand why Beale wasn't better prepared for coming up against his side's biggest rivals.
"I would have played them but hindsight is a wonderful thing," he told Football Insider.
"You can't go up against a Celtic team who is on fire and pick the wrong team.
"It is not as if he did not know what he was getting with Celtic. Everyone in the country knows what you are getting.
"I do not think it was a good game, it was good in the sense that Celtic won but it was not a classic. There were eight bookings but they all came at the end."