DAVID McCALLUM believes tonight’s Glasgow Cup success is one to cherish for his players in their young Rangers careers.
Gers B prevailed in an entertaining Old Firm final this evening at The city Stadium, with goals from Paul Nsio, Cole McKinnon and Zak Lovelace proving the difference.
Indeed, the contest look destined to be heading to a penalty shootout – mirroring the final in 2023 which the young Gers were on the losing side of – before Lovelace popped up with a fine finish four minutes from time.
Speaking to RangersTV after being crowned winners of the 2023/24 edition, McCallum said: “Winning is a habit. Tonight they were expected to win.
“If you look at the group that we had, you should expect to win the game.
“We’d like to do it easier and have a bit more calmness over the course of the game, but if it’s not that way then you need to find a mindset that doesn’t allow you to lose focus.
“I thought that was good tonight. It wasn’t plain sailing and we had to spend time without the ball.
“We were up and down and we could have been better at other times, but we scored three brilliant goals and that’s important as well to show we have the quality to finish it off.
“I’m delighted for them because winning is important at this club.”
The young Gers took the lead in the first half through Nsio, but Celtic pegged the Light Blues back before the interval.
The second period followed a similar pattern as Cole McKinnon’s go-ahead goal was nullified soon after, yet Rangers showed their resilience in abundance to find a winner in normal time and get their hands on the trophy.
McCallum said of the display: “We talk about how you win games of football, and academy football, as you get towards the later stages, changes a little bit because it’s not just about you, the ball, and being nice and easy on the eye to watch; there are many more ways to play.
“You’re playing against teams who also want to dominate the game, so you’re going to spend time without the ball.
“We had to do that at times tonight, and it’s important that their heads remain a certain level of calmness but also energetic and aggressive.
“I thought we done that at times, although I thought we could do it more frequently.
“We have played games where we have been better for longer but not necessarily won those games.
“I thought at the start of the game we took a little bit to get to our rhythm.
“We scored our goal probably when we weren’t at our best, but it came off the back of pressing from Oscar [Cortes] and we managed to get ourselves into a position where Paul scores.
“We settled down a little bit, but I didn’t think we got to a level that we’re capable of doing.
“They obviously equalised before half-time, and I actually really enjoyed half-time. I walked in – and myself, Stevie [Smith] and Conor [Brennan] had a chat about what our message was going to be – but the players had already started among themselves.
“They were emotional and frustrated, and trying to articulate that frustration towards each other and find a performance that was reflective of how we can be.
“The message at half-time was that, whatever way we are out of possession, we need to be tighter, more compact and aggressive.
“We needed to be really tough and resilient, and I thought we done that.
“Zak came on and had a brilliant impact on the game, which is what any player is there to do and particularly forwards.”