Ryan Jack Can’t Let Go of Celtic’s 2019 League Cup Victory

Former Ibrox midfielder Ryan Jack has shown he’s still not over the 2019 League Cup final defeat to Celtic, recalling the day with a mix of frustration and disbelief during his appearance on Open Goal.

In a match that saw Neil Lennon’s side ride their luck to the extreme, it was Celtic’s goalkeeper Fraser Forster who stole the show, producing a a goalkeeping masterclass to deny Rangers at every turn.

Even when Celtic conceded a penalty, Forster was there to save Alfredo Morelos’ spot-kick, continuing the striker’s goal drought against the Hoops. Many speculate that Morelos, known for struggling against Celtic, took the penalty over James Tavernier because he desperately wanted to break his duck against their Glasgow rivals.

Reflecting on the day, Jack referred to it as “the 2019 cup final,” but what stuck with him most was Chris Jullien’s winner, which he labelled as “the offside goal.” Not mentioning Fraser Forster’s goalkeeping performance and putting it down to his teaMMAte missing sitters. The defeat clearly still annoys the midfielder to this day.

However, what seemed to annoy Jack just as much was the behaviour of then-teaMMAte Morelos. Recalling the day before the final, Jack described how the Colombian striker showed up late to training, seemingly indifferent to the importance of the match.

“We’re training at 11 and it gets to half 10 and it is ‘Anybody seen Buff?’ and ‘nah, he’s not in’. Then it gets to 11 and the gaffer is like ‘We’ll need to go to training’ this is the day before a cup final, he’s still not in, like phoning him and he’s still not answering his phone, the phones off.”

Jack continued, “So eventually, half 11 or whatever and the gaffer is like ‘we just need to get out, we need to train.’ I’ll never forget that, I had my daughter’s birthday party that day. I’m like I will nip that that before I go home. So we’re on the pitch at half 11 and no joke he comes out, we’d been out for half an hour, he comes out with not a care in the world. Boots untied, socks tucked into the training joggies, just struts onto the pitch and just like tries to join in.”

According to Jack, the gaffer was “raging” and refused to even speak to Morelos. “The gaffer is ragin. He needs to warm up and he’s away like strutting round the pitch the day before a cup final, not arsed. The next day he comes in, misses five sitters, missed a pen.”

Jack’s story paints a chaotic picture behind the scenes at Ibrox, and it’s clear that the events of that weekend still haunt him. Celtic fans will no doubt take delight in the fact that their victory continues to sting in the blue half of Glasgow like so many.