Rangers’ young left-back impressed on the night but was put at risk by Pedro Caixinha against Kilmarnock.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha insisted that he had no regrets about taking the rather unusual step of revealing his starting XI 30 hours before kick-off, according to the Scottish Herald.
Yet, after Kilmarnock held The Gers to a 0-0 draw at Rugby Park on Wednesday night, perhaps he should think twice about repeating his decision.
After all, Killie boss, and former Rangers captain, Lee McCulloch admitted after securing the scrappiest of points that he changed his own team selection after being given something of a head start by his coaching counterpart.
“Slightly, yes,” he told the Scottish Herald when asked whether he had altered his plans. “I didn’t change my starting line-up but I used the news in the dressing room, I used it in part of the team talk.”
And one of the main messages he may have imparted to his players was to isolate Rangers debutant Myles Beerman. Kilmarnock clearly targeted the 18-year-old left-back, deploying Conon Salmon in an unfamiliar right wing role to use his height and power to great effect on the flank.
The Republic of Ireland international had a whole 11 centre-metres on the Beerman after all.
Yes, the youngster kept a clean sheet and impressed going forwards with his pace and composure in possession. But, against stronger opposition, Caixinha’s naivety, perhaps bordering into over-confidence, may have sold Beerman down the river.
After all, if he gave McCulloch a full day at the office to plan a way of unsettling Rangers’ teenage full-back. And when you’re making your league debut at the tender age of 18, the last thing you want is for the opposition to single you out as a weakness.
But that is exactly what happened at Rugby Park.
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