Charlie Nicholas brands Allan McGregor's Rangers antics 'pathetic' and offers Ange Postecoglou Celtic exit timeline

Charlie Nicholas has branded Allan McGregor’s antics “pathetic” after his attempts to stop Scott Tiffoney scoring for Patrick Thistle after Michael Beale’s sporting instructions.

Rangers had gone ahead when Malik Tillman either ignored or didn’t realise that Partick Thistle were trying to give them possession back from a throw-in. After Jags players reacted angrily, Beale told his player to let them score unchallenged from kick-off to level the score. Tiffoney ran through and met no resistance…until he got to McGregor. The Gers keeper wasn't exactly trying all that hard, but didn't simply stand still and let the Thistle man do his thing either.

And Nicholas reckons it left a bad taste in the mouth after McGregor’s manager had done the right thing. He wrote in his Daily Express column: “What was Rangers keeper Allan McGregor looking to achieve by half-heartedly trying to stop Scott Tiffoney from scoring on Sunday? Ibrox manager Michael Beale had already told his players to step aside and let Partick Thistle equalise after the mix-up with Malik Tillman's goal.

“Tiffoney ran unopposed up the pitch until he got to McGregor, who decided to make life as difficult as he could for the striker to net past him. Why did he have to go through the whole rigmarole? Some people might have found it funny but I thought it was pretty pathetic from McGregor, above.

“Credit has to go to Beale for letting Thistle score their goal (mostly) uncontested. He quickly accepted the misunderstanding with Tillman, who had been stricken on the deck when his team-mates kicked the ball out of play for him.

“It was a great gesture from Rangers but some of the gloss was taken off by McGregor's antics. It was also very harsh for Partick boss Ian McCall and