TAINTED TITLE
McAuley rejects Celtic’s ‘hollow’ achievement
FORMER Rangers defender Gareth McAuley has branded Celtic’s title win ‘tainted and hollow’ and claimed the current Parkhead team will never be ranked alongside those who achieved nine-in-a-row in the past.
In an outspoken assessment, McAuley also accused Neil Lennon of seeking to antagonise Ibrox fans by claiming this year’s success was his best achievement and said he wouldn’t have celebrated if he was a Parkhead player.
Celtic were confirmed as champions last week when the SPFL board called the Premiership on a points-per-game basis after a restart was ruled out due to the impact of coronavirus.
Lennon’s men were 13 points clear of Rangers with eight games to play when Scottish football was shut down in mid-March.
McAuley, who spent the 2018-19 season as part of Steven Gerrard’s squad, claimed the campaign should have been voided and that he would have felt the same even
“It’s a risk. He is not proven. Lennon won’t be bothered”
if the Ibrox club were on top. ‘I actually feel sorry for the Celtic players,’ said McAuley. ‘They have officially been crowned SPFL champions, their ninth success in a row, but this triumph will always be tainted and hollow.
‘All their hard work, dedication and gutsy performances when they grinded out results will be forgotten.
‘In the record books, there will always be an asterisk beside this season’s championship. They didn’t win the title on the pitch. They were handed it.
‘I know Celtic boss Neil Lennon was on television saying that this title win was the greatest one under his management, but that was all for show and to wind up the Rangers fans watching at home.
‘Deep down, it will rankle him that his team weren’t able to secure the title on the pitch.
‘Of course, it wasn’t their fault. The Covid-19 pandemic sadly intervened. But, as a result, history will not look too kindly on this Celtic nine-in-a-row team and that will hurt the current crop of players.
‘They’ll never be revered in the same light as the great Celtic sides that won nine-in-a-row between 1966 and 1974, or the Rangers teams between 1989 and 1997. Those players are Old Firm royalty.
‘They won championships after titanic and terrific battles against top sides. Think of all the stars and even world-class players in their ranks.
‘Yet, the Celtic sides of the last nine years, while successful, will be remembered for winning titles when Rangers weren’t in the league and then being handed the title.
‘That must be so frustrating for players who thrive on competition. I say this as a former professional footballer and a competitor — not as a former Rangers player.
‘I would feel exactly the same way if it were the blue half of Glasgow in this position. I certainly wouldn’t be celebrating because, as a professional sportsperson, you crave competition, the thrill of the win after a hard-fought battle and knowing you have given everything possible to beat your opponent on a level playing field.’
McAuley joined Rangers after leaving West Brom in the summer of 2018, departing Ibrox the following June after making ten appearances under Gerrard.
Writing his Sunday Life column, the 40-year-old also delivered a verdict on Celtic captain Scott Brown.
‘Scott Brown is a great player in Scottish football and I know he would love to be regarded in the same way as the nine-in-a row Celtic players of the past, but that’s not going to happen,’ said McAuley, who won 80 caps for Northern Ireland.
‘He’ll be held in high esteem, but not on the same level as a Bobby Lennox or Stevie Chalmers.’
The SPFL had ruled out declaring the season null and void as they feared it would lead to huge financial liabilities from broadcasters and sponsors.
McAuley, though, argued Hearts should have been saved from the drop.
‘If a season cannot be finished on the pitch, then, for the integrity of the league, it should be voided,’ he continued.
‘Sure, allow the positions to indicate European places, but split the prize money. And there can’t be any relegation, so I am furious Hearts have been relegated. ‘There were 24 points left to play for. Hearts were four points adrift at the bottom of the SPFL and I would back the Tynecastle club every time to avoid relegation. I’m convinced they would have come on strong in the closing stages and avoided the trap door. ‘If we take the SPFL’s logic, Leicester City would never have won the Premier League. ‘A year before they were crowned champions, Leicester were bottom of the league and in serious danger of going down. But they rallied hard in the remaining weeks of the season and avoided the drop. The next year, they were champions.
‘But if a pandemic had struck in 2015, going by Scottish rules, Leicester would have been relegated and there would have been no championship the following year.
‘If a league is cut short, promotion would be off the table too. I say that as someone who spent seven fantastic years at West Brom, who are in a great position to go up from the Championship, while my good friend Stuart Dallas is at leaders Leeds.
‘Hearts should not have to go to court over a football decision. It’s a shambles and really sums up Scottish football recently. The outcome of a league must be decided on a pitch, or not at all.’