Andy Halliday reacted angrily after Rangers boss Graeme Murty substituted him on Sunday against Celtic.
Rangers manager Graeme Murty has been quoted by the Scottish Herald as saying midfielder Andy Halliday is still “raw” after his angry reaction following the Gers’ 4-0 loss to Celtic last Sunday.
The 26-year-old midfielder was substituted in the 41st minute of Rangers’ 4-0 loss to Old Firm rivals Celtic, as Brendan Rodgers’ men took one giant leap towards completing a second successive treble.
With the score at 2-0, Halliday was replaced by Josh Windass in what has been described a Murty mistake by a handful of Scottish football pundits. The midfielder was visibly upset and had to be calmed down by Bruno Alves.
In his Friday press conference ahead of Sunday’s tricky clash against Hearts, Murty said he had spoken to left-footed midfielder Halliday and believes that the reaction was not towards himself.
“We’ve spoken this week,” Murty said. “He’s a little bit raw at the moment. He’s a Rangers fan and he’s hurting. So as a human being you have to take that into account, so I won’t press him too much this week.
“But he knows he’s got my support. I brought him back from Azerbaijan because I wanted him in the group. He didn’t vent it at me as he came off. I didn’t know about it until afterwards. I’ve no idea who it was aimed at.”
Halliday returned to Rangers in January at Murty’s request following a difficult spell with Azerbaijani side FK Gabala during the first half of the season.
He was given a rare start against Celtic, with the likes of Graham Dorrans, Greg Docherty and Jason Holt normally picked over the midfielder. It remains to be seen if he will be in the squad to face Hearts this weekend.
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