RANGERS LOOK LIKE IDIOTS NOW AFTER ‘WIN WIN’ BOAST, SAYS BOWMAN

Ryan BOWMan rubbed salt into Ibrox wounds by claiming Pedro Caixinha and his players were left ‘looking like idiots’ after their 2-0 Betfred Cup semi-final loss at Hampden.

Portuguese boss Caixinha had used his pre-match media conference to say his Ibrox team had two options against Motherwell — ‘win or win’.

Rangers players Fabio Cardoso and Daniel Candeias subsequently posted Twitter messages containing the message #winorwin.

However, after Louis Moult’s deadly double secured a november 26 showdown with Celtic at the national stadium, Motherwell hero Bowman claimed those messages from within the Ibrox camp had only spurred on their last-four opponents.

and he insisted they had the last laugh against what he described as Caixinha’s ‘long ball’ team.

‘Everyone outside this football club was writing us off before the game had even started,’ he said.

‘We were the underdogs. a few of the Rangers players were even Tweeting “win or win” on the back of their manager saying they had two options — “win or win”.

‘I found that a bit disrespectful but it just gave us even more fight and fire. If their players want to Tweet that, then more fool them — they look the idiots now!

‘Someone showed me their Tweets. It was being re-Tweeted so bigger fool them, their manager and players.

‘Rangers were playing long balls today, which suited us. It played right into our hands.

‘We had three big guys at the back who could deal with that all day long.

‘It’s an incredible feeling to reach the cup final. We were joking in the dressing room afterwards that if we could bottle that feeling up and sell it we would all be millionaires.

‘Can we go on to win the cup now against Celtic?

‘One hundred per cent. It’s about who wants it more on the day.

‘Our confidence is sky high and we will go into the game believing we can win. There’s no reason we can’t win the cup.’

Bowman was booked early for catching Cardoso with an elbow and escaped punishment after breaking the Portuguese defender’s nose with another elbow.

He admitted he was worried that he may have earned a second yellow and missed the final.

‘I use my elbows as leverage,’ claimed Bowman.

‘It’s just the way I jump. I don’t intend to catch anyone but I was on an early booking, inside ten minutes, so I was walking a bit of a tightrope after that.

‘But I didn’t really think about it after my booking. I just played my natural game.

‘yes, I caught him (Cardoso) again in the second half and he went off but it’s one of those things. It happens all the time in football.

‘I was a little bit worried when he went down and stayed down but the ref didn’t blow. If he had blown, I knew I’d have been in trouble.

‘I didn’t see Cardoso’s nose but the boys on the bench said it looked quite bad. I didn’t see him after the game.’

Meanwhile, Motherwell defender Peter Hartley insisted that Caixinha’s Rangers are a pale imitation of Ibrox sides of the past.

‘Rangers is a phenomenal club, a great club with a huge following. But it’s not the Rangers of 20 years ago or ten years ago,’ he said.

‘It’s a different Rangers and it’s still in transition and we knew we could take advantage of that.

‘The Rangers of 20 years ago were winning the league year in, year out but it’s not that team. It’s their second season in the Premiership, so they are still building.

‘If we had any opportunity to beat them it was today.

‘But we have got a group of lads here at Motherwell — like Chris Cadden and allan Campbell — who could play in the English Championship right now. ‘So don’t underestimate us as a team. ‘Rangers are a very good team and they’ve spent a lot of money but we tried to instil no fear in our team.

‘This is a massive achievement for Motherwell. It’s the biggest moment of my career. ‘We now face Celtic in the final and we will be playing them three times in a week.

‘If we could beat them in one I would chose the final, without a doubt. What an occasion it will be.’

Before the match, Hartley had vowed he would go ‘hunting’ against alfredo ‘The Buffalo’ Morelos.

The Motherwell defender claimed the Rangers striker punched him off the ball but, while Morelos won that particular battle, Hartley claimed he won the war against the Colombian.

‘He’s a bit of a warrior, Morelos. He’s a tough lad and I caught him a few times but he kept coming back for more,’ said Hartley.

‘He never shied from it. He’s a good player and a tough challenge.

‘Did he punch me? He caught me a few times but I’m not the kind of guy that will make a big deal of it.

‘He hurt me and I stayed down but I got up and brushed myself off and was ready to go again.

‘He’s a physical player but I felt I had the edge over him.

‘He’s not the best centre-forward I’ve ever played against.

‘I can’t remember Morelos having a shot on target, apart from a header in the second half.’