Barton insists pressure is on Celtic to retain crown

RANGERS star Joey Barton insists the pressure is all on Celtic to stand up to the challenge posed by their resurgent rivals and deliver a sixth consecutive Premiership title. The ex-Manchester City, Newcastle, Marseille and Burnley midfielder is desperate to help the Ibrox club add to their record 54 Scottish league championships next season. Declaring that Celtic have ‘had it all their own way’ for too long while Rangers journeyed up the leagues, Barton warned the Parkhead club they will face a tougher test to retain their crown now his new employers are back in the top flight. And he believes the high-profile arrival of Brendan Rodgers will

also add to a greater burden of expectation at Celtic Park. ‘Rangers are on 54 league titles and it would be sweet to take a 55th,’ said the 33-year-old. ‘This is the greatest and most successful league title-winning side in world football. But you have got another great club just across the road and they have got ambitions of their own. ‘You can’t have one without the other and people north of the border have realised that in recent years. Even the most staunch Celtic supporter will admit that rivalry is what brings out your best. ‘Celtic have got some great players, they have got a manager who has come from a big club in England. And the reality is that the pressure is on them. They have to win the league. They have had it all their own way for a long period and now they have got to move it up a gear because they have been able to have it all their own way with a bit of ease.’ Barton was an English Championship title winner with Burnley last season and is desperate to help replicate that success in Scotland. Having chosen to wear the No 8 jersey for Rangers, he hopes to have even a fraction of the success of a previous incumbent, Paul Gascoigne. ‘I look forward to the challenge at Rangers, look forward to the gauntlet being thrown down,’ he said. ‘I have come off the back of an incredibly successful season at Burnley with a great group of people. I want to take everything I learned there and try to apply it to this organisation. ‘I am coming into a side that has won the Scottish Championship, been to two cup finals, winning one and losing one. I am not walking into somewhere that doesn’t know how to win football matches. ‘When you play for a club of this magnitude, you look at the great names that have been in shirts before and I have taken the No 8. ‘I am aware Gazza had the No 8 jersey and many good players before him, as well. ‘I can’t put myself in the same breath as Gazza. ‘If I can have a minute percentage of the impact he had on this football club, I would snap your hand off for that now.’