Chris Sutton suggests Rangers’ Andy Halliday should be ashamed

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Glasgow Rangers missed out on the Scottish Cup final as the Ibrox side were beaten emphatically.

Chris Sutton has told the Daily Record that Andy Halliday should be ashamed of himself for the way he performed in Rangers’ Scottish Cup semi-final with Celtic, and for his reaction after being subbed off by Gers boss Graeme Murty.

Rangers’ hopes of booking their place in the final while also ending their wait for a win against their bitter rivals looked set to be dashed early on. The Gers looked second best for much of the contest and could have no complaints when they fell 2-0 down seven minutes before the break.

Murty decided to make a change before the interval and threw on Josh Windass in place of Andy Halliday, who was arguably a surprise starter at Hampden Park having only played a peripheral role this season. While it is not clear who was in the firing line, it was fair to say that the midfielder was furious as he left the pitch.

There have been suggestions that Halliday may have been shouting at Murty, someone on the Gers bench or responding to abuse from the crowd. But Sutton has slammed the way that the 26-year-old reacted as he came off.

“Halliday didn’t get close to anyone while he was on the park and his conduct was totally unacceptable. He was screaming at the bench – blaming everyone else but himself and that sums up the Rangers players’ mentality,” he said, as reported by the Record.

“What kind of ship are Rangers running? Halliday was discarded by the previous manager and brought back in by Murty but was absolutely hopeless against Celtic yesterday.

“Halliday has done nothing and should have been ashamed of his performance. I’m not saying Murty got it right but the 26-year-old should have kept his head down in that situation.”

It is difficult to criticise Halliday too strongly without knowing exactly who his frustration was being directed at. While it was not the best way to vent his anger at Murty if he was sounding off to the manager, he could be forgiven for feeling humiliated.

Tactical first-half substitutions are obviously rare and the player coming off tends to become something of a scapegoat – Halliday’s departure from the game will certainly be one of the abiding memories from the clash. If Murty had the resources and the opportunity, it is difficult to imagine that he would not have replaced the entire team, apart from Wes Foderingham perhaps, if he could.

But Halliday being the one to come off made it seem that he was the worst offender in Murty’s mind, which – given how poorly Rangers were playing – would have been quite a statement from the manager.