Rodgers coup took the wind out of Ibrox sails
SAYS STUART McCALL
FOR maybe a day or two back in the summer, Stuart McCall allowed himself to feel mildly optimistic about Rangers. After all, they had just agreed terms with the experienced Joey Barton to augment a youthful squad. Maybe, just maybe, they could make this season interesting.
And then Celtic appointed Brendan Rodgers. It was, according to ex-Ibrox midfielder McCall, a ‘coup’ that effectively ended his old club’s hopes of challenging for the league flag.
‘I look back to the summer and there wasn’t much of a difference in timing between Rangers announcing Joey Barton and then Brendan Rodgers being appointed,’ said McCall. ‘The two happened at the same time.
‘I remember at the time of Barton signing thinking: “That’s a big statement from Rangers”. But to bring Brendan in was a massive coup for Celtic. As the season progresses, the Barton thing didn’t work out and Brendan worked out magnificently.
‘Celtic have only brought in a couple of players. Kolo Toure was signed — and he hasn’t played so much — and there’s Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair but it was more or less the same squad from the previous season that was perceived to be not so good.
‘The difference with Brendan is what he’s got out the team. Look at Scott Brown and Stuart Armstrong. Celtic have absolutely stormed it and done far better than anyone would have thought in terms of wins; hence the gap is as big as it is.
‘At the beginning of the season, when I looked at who’d come in, I thought Rangers would go for second. I still think they will be second. I never thought they’d be able to push Celtic.
‘Yes, the gap is alarming. But that’s down to Celtic’s incredible performances, not necessarily the poor performances of Rangers. I’d expect Rangers to think they could have had a few more points. But you’d also expect Celtic to have a few less.
‘That’s down to their consistency. What’s the stat? They only dropped points at Inverness? That’s incredible, you have to say.
‘Rangers are still searching for a foundation. When Mark Warburton got young players like Jordan Rossiter and Josh Windass, he wanted to bed them in for a season, anyway.
‘Can they deal with the pressures of playing in front of a demanding crowd? You need experienced players to help them through that. It’s a balance, without a doubt.
‘But the major blow to Rangers was when Celtic were able to get somebody like Brendan.
‘When I met up with some of the Celtic lads last season (on Scotland duty), I could sense something was not quite right. But the new manager has given Brown, Armstrong — you could name a few, actually — a new lease of life.’
Warburton has occasionally seemed helpless to drag some of his players up to Premiership speed. Some who excelled in the Championship, most notably James Tavernier and Martyn Waghorn, have struggled in the top flight.
‘That’s always the worry,’ said McCall. ‘If Rangers fans, the board and everyone to do with Rangers are being realistic, there’s going to have to be a big influx of quality.
‘Because, at the minute, you can play the odd game like the one last week, and to be fair after the first 30 minutes you’re thinking: “Rangers are playing well here, they might do something”. But, in the end, Celtic were too strong.
‘Rangers can maybe beat them in a cup game like last season. But they are a long, long way away at this moment in time. Rangers will just focus on trying to get as near to Celtic as they can.’
Holding off a challenge from Aberdeen for the runners-up spot is going to be hard enough.
The thought that Rangers might finish 20-something — or worse — points behind Celtic, even allowing for this being their first year back in the top flight, is tough for Ibrox regulars to accept.
Asked if Warburton and David Weir could survive trailing in a country mile behind their rivals, the former interim Rangers boss offered some words of comfort.
‘Yes. They’ve still got the Scottish Cup — and they’re in a battle for second place,’ he said.
‘It’s hard to judge anything halfway through. You judge it at the end of the season. Mark, Davie, the senior players, everyone knows the expectations. If they don’t finish second, there will be pressure.
‘You don’t always finish where your budget says you will — as Leicester proved last season. But when I was last at Rangers, coming towards the back end of the season, the question was always: “If you go up, then where do you see yourselves next season?” You’ve got to be honest.
‘Even then, Rangers still had the second-biggest budget in the country — and we knew we’d be able to outspend everyone other than Celtic the following year.
‘It all boils down to recruitment, man-management and getting the best out of what you’ve got.
‘Derek McInnes got stick for losing the League Cup Final to Celtic and getting beaten at Ibrox but, when you look at the finances, the teams are where they should be.
‘I mean, second to Celtic is not good enough. But, in the grand scheme of things, that’s what they should be getting.’
lStuart McCall was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.