'At a Canter' - Pundit view: Rangers now closer rivals to St Johnstone than Celtic after latest Old Firm thrashing

Rangers have been so far off Celtic’s level of success since they returned to the Scottish Premiership they are more comparable to St Johnstone, Tam McManus has suggested.

The former Hibs forward said on PLZ Soccer on 2 September that since the Light Blues returned to the Scottish top flight they have won just three trophies compared to 19 claimed at Parkhead.

And after St Johnstone lifted both cups in 2021 McManus highlighted the gulf between the two sides of the Old Firm, with the 3-0 loss at Parkhead predicted to lead to another Celtic title “at a canter”.

He said (5m 20s): “I think they should be concentrating on the other teams, on second place. Celtic will win the league at a canter.

“You look at Rangers since they got back into the top flight in 2016, they’ve won one league, one Scottish Cup and one League Cup, they’ve won three trophies in eight years, major trophies.

“I think St Johnstone have won two, so are becoming a team that just wins a trophy every now and again? That’s what it looks like to me at the minute.”

Philippe Clement still without a Rangers win over Celtic

The comparison may be extreme but the numbers don’t lie, and while the years after the return to the Premiership can be attributed to part of the climb back to the top more recent seasons can’t be.

It is clear now that the work done under Steven Gerrard to battle back to being Scottish champions has been squandered.

And even the financial boosts of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s reign – a run to the Europa League final, qualification for the Champions League group stage, lucrative sales of Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo – feel a million miles away now.

Philippe Clement could only dream of such fees to boost his transfer budget this summer as he strained to offload the likes of Todd Cantwell, Connor Goldson and Scott Wright on cheap deals.

The Belgian deserves scrutiny for the way he has spent the money he did have this summer, and what he is doing with the players once they arrive.

But it is difficult to absolve anybody involved in recent years from blame in what looks to be a systemic failure from top to bottom.

In other Rangers news, footage of James Tavernier after the defeat has been slammed as “absolutely unacceptable”.

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The post 'At a Canter' - Pundit view: Rangers now closer rivals to St Johnstone than Celtic after latest Old Firm thrashing appeared first on Ibrox News.