The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Ibrox turmoil continues as club suspends experienced pair
ibrox: Miller and Wallace face club probe in wake of cup loss to Celtic
Rangers are in fresh turmoil following their Hampden thrashing by Celtic after suspending club captain Lee Wallace and experienced striker Kenny Miller.
The pair were called to a disciplinary meeting at Ibrox yesterday morning amid claims they undermined manager Graeme Murty during a heated post-match analysis of Sunday’s 4-0 derby defeat at Hampden.
Neither played in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final.
A club statement read: “Rangers can confirm two players, Lee Wallace and Kenny Miller, have this morning been suspended pending investigation into a team-related incident.
“The club will make no further comment until this investigation has been completed.”
Miller is in the final weeks of his contract having played 299 games during three spells at Ibrox.
The 38-year-old was immediately recalled when Murty took over in November, initially on caretaker duty, after being sidelined by previous manager Pedro Caixinha and told to train with the under-20s. But he has only started one match in 2018.
Left-back Wallace, who has a year left on his deal, was not in the match-day squad and has not played since September, but has been closing in on a comeback following groin surgery.
Speaking immediately after the game, Murty stated that the dressing room had been “emotional”.
“There was anger, frustration, all the sorts of emotion you would expect from a changing room that has just gone through that,” he added.
“There should be frustration and anger, it is just about turning that into positives and energy to power you through to the end of the season, rather than allow it to be disruptive.”
But Murty hinted he had been a bystander to the debate.
When asked by Rangers TV what he had said to the players, he replied: “Nothing. It’s too raw now. All it’s going to do is lead to conflict and fingerpointing.
“Maybe that’s what it needs. But right now we are here to regroup because we have five big games to go. We need to make sure we finish off the season strongly.”
There were further signs of internal strife at Hampden with both Andy Halliday and Daniel Candeias reacting angrily after being substituted, before Alfredo Morelos and Greg Docherty were seen shouting at each other as they left the pitch.
Murty only has a deal as Rangers boss until the summer and was given little reassurance he would be kept on when chairman Dave King issued a statement to supporters last week.