WEIR: GERS HAVE MARK OF CHAMPS
DAVIE WEIR last night claimed Rangers are finally ready to get their hands back on the Premiership trophy – for the first time since he lifted it for them almost 10 years ago.
The former Ibrox skipper led Walter Smith’s team to the title at Rugby Park in 2011 before the club was plunged into a catastrophic financial meltdown and a new start in the bottom tier of the SPFL.
But Steven Gerrard’s side cemented pole position in this season’s race for the top flight with a derby-day win at Parkhead and now Weir
believes his old club is ready to make a genuine claim on Celtic’s crown.
Speaking exclusively to Record Sport yesterday the Rangers Hall of Fame inductee insisted Gerrard and his players appear to have learned from the lessons that caused last season’s collapse following their last Old Firm victory at the turn of the year.
Weir said: “Yes I do fancy their chances this season. It will be close and the European factor will have an impact. But the Rangers squad is in a really good place right now.
“Time will tell how Celtic react. Sometimes a slap in the face provides that stimulus to get better.
“But what’s interested me has been the way Rangers have reacted after the win. It’s been very low key with none of the players getting overexcited on social media.
“They’ve learned from what happened last December when maybe they were guilty of getting carried away. It’s much more business-like this time and I like that. It’s promising.
“Ce l t i c wi l l be wounded. They were missing a lot of players, they weren’t at their best and they will come back.
“But Rangers are in a much better place now in terms of being able to deal with that. They’ve got a stability about them and more of a belief in what they are doing.
“They are learning what it takes. You don’t just come together one summer and then win a league. It doesn’t work like that.
“You have to learn how to win one. You have to learn from your mistakes along the way. It looks to me Rangers have learned those lessons. There’s still a long way to go but it looks really promising.”
And Weir believes Gerrard – chastised for his celebrations after last season’s win at Parkhead – has also taken the criticism on board.
He said: “The manager has probably learned some lessons too. He’s fortunate he has someone like Gary McAllister beside him who has a lot of experience and Michael Beale who has a great reputation as a coach.
“So he has good support which is also important. I’m sure he’s also calling on people he’s worked with in the past and even people like Walter around the club. You’d want to tap into knowledge like that.
“But overall, he’s got Rangers in a good position and I’m sure he’ll be feeling very comfortable about that right now.”
Rangers head to Belgium today for a Europa League opener against Standard Liege and Weir bel i eves Gerrard’s squad is now strong enough to compete both at home and away.
He added: “They are in a good spot right now and the team has evolved. The work that has gone in over these last two years to build the squad has really changed the dynamic and changed the mood music.”