Michael Beale has labelled former Celtic striker Chris Sutton as a ‘comedy act’ pundit and claimed he is the ‘worst ever’ player to represent Chelsea.

The Ibrox boss addressed the issue of how his act of sportsmanship against Partick Thistle has been received in some quarters following the Scottish Cup win last weekend.

Beale allowed Ian McCall’s side to score an equaliser after an innocent misunderstanding saw Malik Tillman put Rangers ahead when the Jags attempted to return the ball following an injury stoppage in play.

Beale was widely and rightly hailed for his moment of selflessness and classy call, but Sutton questioned whether the Englishman would have made the same decision if Rangers had been playing Old Firm rivals Celtic.

“Listen, there are pundits that are comedy acts,” Beale said. “There are ex-players who are comedy acts.

“I don’t even want to answer that question because they are comedy acts and they are there to create intrigue. They don’t speak about the betterment of the game, they don’t help our game at all. All they do is bring it back down to the gutter.

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“There are a lot of good things we can speak about in our game at the moment, at other clubs as much as in my club. I don’t know why people… Why is that where they go?

“At the end of the day, we don’t know, do we? If I had allowed that goal to stand and we had gone through in the cup like that, what would that have done for Malik? What would that have said about me and our club?

“And also, it seems like because Partick Thistle said it, that Ian was getting the sack anyway. Then you guys would be questioning me that I took a goal from someone that lost his job.

“I think that day worked out about as well as it could have done when that situation happened. You see when people do that, I think we need to wise up in this country.

“There are people out there creating intrigue for intrigue reasons and those people, in my opinion, we need to mute them and quickly.”

The decision from Beale was not universally approved of in the Ibrox stands last Sunday and supporters were quick to let their feelings known as boos rang around the ground before Rangers went on to win the cup clash.

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A clear explanation of events has taken the sting out of the situation for many but his own approval rating with supporters was not a consideration for Beale as he insisted it will be his achievements that will determine how he is viewed by fans in the long run.

Beale said: “I think the history will determine that. I don’t think anything I do right in this second will determine that. I think history will determine that.

“Emotions run high, they like one player and they don’t like another, one scores one week and isn’t liked the next. It is the role of the fan.

“Growing up, I was a fan of Chelsea. So there is one pundit around here who is the worst ever player to play for Chelsea. That is why I won’t mention his name because I try to forget him.”