James Tavernier slams ‘sloppy’ Rangers as Yosuke Ideguchi ‘opens up’ on disappointing Celtic spell

Celtic claimed a Scottish Cup victory over Partick Thistle on Sunday but the scoreline isn’t what has made the headlines after a dramatic afternoon in Glasgow. Michae Beale encouraged his side to let the visitors score following Malik Tilman’s controversial goal to take them 2-1 up.

It was all level at the Ibrox Stadium when Tilman intercepted a throw-in that Partick Thistle had intended to surrender following a foul on the midfielder. Tilman went onto score for Rangers, which was met by anger due to his unsportsmanlike behaviour. The hosts then allowed Scott Tiffoney to equalise, however Rangers then went onto claim the winner with a late goal from James Sands.

Meanwhile, Celtic eased through their Scottish Cup clash with St Mirren, putting five past their opponents while Mark O’Hara’s latest penalty proved only to be a consilation goal. Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate, Oh Hyeon-gyu and Matt O’Riley scored for Ange Postecoglou’s side on home soil.

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‘Sloppy’ Rangers

James Tavernier has criticised Rangers after their performance in the 3-2 victory over Partick Thistle. As well as the goal from Tiffoney following Tilman’s controversial second half goal, Michael Beale’s side initially fell behind following a handball in the penalty area by Antonio Colak that allowed Kevin Holt to open the scoring.

Despite the win, Tavernier was unhappy with his team’s display. Speaking after the match, the Rangers captain said:  “It’s a positive that we’re getting results without hitting the top gear of consistency over 90 minutes.“That’s to come but we can’t keep saying it week after week. It needs to be there. We’ve all been together a long time and we know what the manager wants us to do, we need to be really at it and be really consistent over the 90 minutes.

“I believe it’s down to the players. We’re all good players and we know what the boss wants us to do but it’s about executing it on the pitch. We need to do that for 90 minutes because if we take the foot off the gas and get sloppy in our play, we’re going to make it harder for ourselves.”

The Glasgow giants will travel to Livingston in the Scottish Premiership this weekend before they take on Celtic in the highly anticipated Scottish League Cup final. Beale is so far unbeaten as Rangers boss since joining the club from QPR in November.

Yosuke Ideguchi opens up on exit

Yosuke Ideguchi has revealed his disappointment at his lack of chances at Celtic. The midfielder moved to Glasgow from Gamba Osaka in December 2021, however he suffered a serious injury less than a month later and only managed three appearances for the rest of the season.

Despite recovering from his injury, Ideguchi has failed to feature this term and has now returned to Japan on a year-long loan with Avispa Fukuoka. The 26-year-old has admitted his frustration at the lack of opportunities at Celtic. Speaking after he was introduced to his new fans in Japan, Ideguchi said: “I am fit, I am been in full training for a long time. I am ready to play in a full game with my new club.

“I’m not going to look back at Celtic with any regrets, but I can’t honestly say it was a success. Even when I wasn’t playing I made sure I gave everything in training. I believe I improved as a player at Celtic and I am stronger for my time there.

“I still have the ambition to play for Japan. I have suffered disappointment before when I missed the cut for the 2018 World Cup, but I cheered for them like everyone else in Qatar. I’ve had a brilliant reception from everyone at Avispa since I came here on loan and I can’t wait to get started in the league.”