Rangers celebrate title – to Sturgeon’s dismay
Hceltic’s failure to win leaves rivals with unassailable lead hsturgeon angry as thousands take to the streets to celebrate
Steven Gerrard’s Rangers won their 55th Scottish league title after Celtic failed to beat Dundee United. The success was greeted by thousands of fans gathering at Ibrox and in the centre of Glasgow. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the lack of social distancing “was unfair to the country”.
Steven Gerrard reacted to his first success as a manager – the annexation of Rangers’ first title since 2011 and the 55th overall at Ibrox – by crediting the supporters and players and pledged to try to extend the momentum to a place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
The jubilant scenes that followed outside Ibrox, however, drew a critical response from Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who described the sight of thousands of fans congregating at the ground and elsewhere as “unfair to the entire country”, given the guidelines around social distancing.
Celtic’s failure to win at Dundee United yesterday left Rangers, who beat St Mirren 3-0 on Saturday, an unassailable 20 points clear of their Old Firm rivals.
In an evocative statement to the club’s TV service, manager Gerrard said: “It is very difficult to put into words right now. I’m on a real, emotional high and it has been a journey that is not finished.
“There is more to come and the next thing for me, when you win, it is always about what is next, and I am so proud of the players first and foremost – they are the most important people inside the club – but they are not as important as the supporters. They are what makes this club and it is for them.
“This has been a team effort and a collective effort – it is a monumental achievement and I am just so proud to be the manager of that.
“We are in March and I need them to keep delivering until the end of the season. I want to get into the last eight of the Europa League and that
is the next challenge and the focus is very much on that.”
Gerrard, his backroom staff and players will have little time to dwell on their achievement because they travel to the Czech Republic for the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie with Slavia Prague, which takes place on Thursday.
While still in the moment, however, veteran striker Jermain Defoe said: “I’ve dedicated my whole career, my whole life, for these kind of moments. I always knew it would happen at some point in my career, that’s the thing that’s kept me going. It means the world, it’s emotional.”
“We have, at times, been heavily reliant on certain individuals,” Gerrard said. “It’s taken us time to get the squad into this shape with this quality. There is no ego in the team. Everyone is playing together.
There’s a great spirit in the group. I think everyone – and me included – expected at some point, as we got closer, to see some nerves or tension or some inexperience, but this shows the strength of the dressing room. There’s a lot of fearless young players and some real calm heads. We’ve got the balance spot on.”
Douglas Park, the Rangers chairman, praised Gerrard for what he called a “magnificent job” and added: “He’s brought standards back to the club – standards inside the club, standards outside the club.
“We’ve achieved 55, we’ve won the league. I couldn’t be more happy for the club, the supporters and everyone. It’s been a hard, hard road getting there, but we’ve got there and obviously we want this to be the start of many.”
After the collapse of Craig Whyte’s business regime in 2012, Rangers had to begin their recovery in the fourth tier of Scottish football, returning to the top flight in 2016.
Yesterday, supporters took to the streets of Glasgow and other Rangers heartlands. Motorway flyovers were draped with banners and fireworks were audible well into the evening, although the congregation of thousands of fans was criticised by Sturgeon, who had earlier congratulated the club. She wrote on Twitter: “I share folks’ anger at this. Everyone has made so many sacrifices in the past year & seeing a minority risk our progress is infuriating & disgraceful. It is deeply unfair to the entire country, and the police have a hard enough job already. Please ask fans to go home @Rangersfc.”
The scenes were nevertheless watched enviously by another former Rangers favourite as player and manager, Graeme Souness, who said: “Delighted for Steven Gerrard and all his team. It’s been a long time coming. Celtic have had a period of domination, which was uncomfortable for us Rangers supporters. They [Rangers] have been fantastic all season. I just wish I was in Glasgow right now.”