The fans need a reality check, declares Duffy
JIM DUFFY has told Rangers fans to get real and expect to trail in Celtic’s slipstream for several years to come — no matter who is in the manager’s hotseat. The Morton boss, who takes his side to Ibrox in the Scottish Cup today, believes it was always unfair to judge Mark Warburton’s Rangers set-up against their rich rivals. Warburton’s dramatic exit took place during a break in a league campaign that has seen Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic hare 27 points clear of last year’s Championship winners. That gap was increasingly held up as a negative against the Englishman in Rangers’ first campaign back in top-flight football since 2011/12. However, Duffy insists Warburton’s work should never have been compared to the runaway leaders and domestically unbeaten champions. Instead, the veteran boss with 29 seasons coaching experience has cautioned Rangers to hold their nerve and concentrate on selfimprovement before entertaining ideas of a challenge. Duffy said: ‘Celtic are in a league of their own. That’s not Celtic’s fault — they’re better than everybody else. ‘The accounts show how their financial muscle is only going to improve. ‘Rangers have got a job to do in a different way. And that takes longer. If you can get there, then great. But it’s not going to happen in one or two seasons. ‘Whoever comes in to take over, it’s going to take a considerable amount of time. And a considerable amount of work to get the type of player, and to develop those type of players to even be close to challenging Celtic. ‘Although it’s hard for Rangers fans to hear, it isn’t “chase Celtic” and try to shut the gap on Celtic now. It’s just to try and improve Rangers. And see how far that takes you.
‘Start to chase Celtic and you’re asking for trouble. Rangers fans want the team to be challenging Celtic but, in reality, that’s not going to happen short-term.
‘If they finished second or third this year then, taking Celtic out of the question, it’s a fantastic level of consistency.
‘That’s a very bitter pill for the fans to swallow but the previous regime before Dave King have a lot to answer for.’
Duffy argues the years in which the club’s framework was left to rot mean Rangers — despite boasting a bigger wage bill than Hearts and Aberdeen — were playing catch-up with those clubs.
The Tynecastle and Pittodrie teams remain contenders for the runners-up berth and have stability in their favour, despite Hearts undergoing a coaching switch in mid-season.
That is a problem now to be tackled by King and his board to replace Warburton. Alex McLeish is a warm favourite to be handed the reigns for a second spell.
Billy Davies is also out of work — status that would appear to favour he or McLeish in the shortterm ahead of Aberdeen’s Derek McInnes and Tommy Wright of St Johnstone.
The shortest-priced foreign coach in the betting is Frank de Boer.
‘That infrastructure should have been put in place in the lower leagues so Rangers had a platform to add to,’ said Duffy.
‘So Mark came in and had to get out of the Championship, which they did. That’s fine. Then they have to do pretty well and look at the top end of the Premiership.
‘Then look to try and close the gap to Celtic. Hearts and Aberdeen have had a process where they’ve developed over a longer period of time than Warburton’s Rangers.
‘So they’re ahead. It’s not always about the money. Okay, Rangers pay more, have three or five times the budget of this or that club. But that doesn’t always work.
‘You’ve got to try and bed players in, get to know the Scottish game, the Premiership — and, in this case, the demands of playing for Rangers.’
As for the dynamics of today’s challenge following the upheaval at Ibrox, Duffy said: ‘I think the fans might rally round the Rangers team a bit more because of the situation, which might help their players focus a bit more. But in terms of our team, nothing will change about our approach.’