Andy Halliday insists the timing of the banner displayed by a section of the Rangers support at the weekend was "really poor".

The Union Bears appeared to criticise Michael Beale at Livingston on Saturday by holding a banner aloft prior to the start of the game. 

It read: "Two trophies in eleven years, uphold the standards that matter."

This seemed to be in response to a remark the Gers boss had made only a week prior after their Scottish Cup win over Partick Thistle.

This was of course linked to Beale's "upholding standards" comment following his decision to allow the Jags to score against his side after the incident involving Malik Tillman.

Beale's side have been on fire since he took over in late November, winning all of their games bar one - which ended in a draw with Celtic.

They now have the chance in a one-off game to win the Viaplay Cup on Sunday against their arch rivals to really kick-start Beale's time in charge.

And Hearts ace Halliday believes for that reason, the timing of the banner displayed in West Lothian was wrong.

READ MORE: Ferguson weighs in on Michael Beale Rangers vs Celtic striker call

He told ClydeSuperscoreboard: "Listen, I think the Union Bears do a lot of good stuff at Rangers. I think they actually self-fund a lot of their tifos and banners, I think that's great.

"But I was really against the banner for a number of reasons.

"Again, off the back of something the manager has done that was completely right, he's in the door three months and he's 14 unbeaten - he's a week away from potentially winning a third trophy in the 11 years or whatever and it's his first opportunity as Rangers manager to win silverware.

"So as much as I disagree with the banner, I think the timing as well is really, really poor.

"I think Michael Beale's done the right thing. It's disappointing that he's had to respond to the banner after the game but, for me, the timing was really poor."

Glasgow Times:

The Insider newsletter is the latest move by the team at the Rangers Review to bring content directly to you. We already have accounts on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Tik Tok and Instagram but we will also send exclusive bespoke opinion pieces every day at 5pm direct to your email. Not only will you receive this piece from one of our team of Joshua Barrie, Derek Clark or Jonny McFarlane but you will also get our list of the best content published in the last 24 hours. It's a handy way to keep abreast of what's going on amid all the noise surrounding Scotland's most successful club. You can sign up in five seconds with just an email address here.