Ian Murray was part of a Rangers squad that faltered to a third-place finish two decades ago.
But he insists there’s no chance of that happening again – even with upheaval in the boardroom and a big rebuild on the pitch. Hearts split the Old Firm in season 2005-06 as Celtic romped home 18 points clear of Alex McLeish’s strugglers. Now it’s Aberdeen who are surging while Rangers have dropped points in the early weeks and taken another Parkhead beating.
Murray watched Philippe Clement’s men brush Dundee aside in the cup then notch up an impressive win over Malmo in the Europa League. And he saw enough to suggest the Belgian will improve a younger, revamped side as the domestic season goes on. Murray said: “A lot of things have to go wrong for a Rangers team to finish third. It doesn’t happen often and back in 05-06 we weren’t a great side. We were a good bunch of honest guys who worked hard. We did well in Europe where we didn’t have the ball as much in domestic football.
“Hearts were a good team and finished second. Every time we played them it was tough. Over the 38 games, however, Rangers WILL be in the top two. But that’s par for the course.
“They need to be better. You cannot question that Celtic are streets ahead of them right now. And Clement has been pretty open about the fact that Rangers are on a rebuild.
“But it’s difficult because you can’t rebuild and lose games when you are Rangers. This team needs to be better at the back. They’re pretty open and if they come up against a good team – like against Celtic – they’re going to get beaten.
“But, on the flip side, they’re definitely building something. They’ve a lot of young players, including a few foreign ones. And that means taking time to adapt to our game, settling into Scotland socially and professionally.”
Murray insists Gers will have too much for his other former club Hibs today. He has watched Hibees three times since his shock sacking by Raith last month.
And he said: “I expect Rangers to win, that’s for sure. If I was a Hibs player or manager, though, I wouldn’t be going there with any fear.
“You can take the game to them – it’s going to be pretty open – but Rangers have better individual players. The new signing I like is Connor Barron. He has come from Aberdeen in the Ryan Jack mould and I think he could be better than Ryan.
“Barron was excellent last week against Dundee, always looking for the ball and trying to drive the midfield forward. I feel he understands what it means to be a Rangers player and what it meant to the team being back at Ibrox, especially in a cup game.
“You’ve got to be positive and forward-thinking. For a young guy to make that move is hard because you’re getting pelters from Aberdeen.
“And until he produces for Rangers he’s got to the win over their fans too. But he’s done that straight away with performances.”
Hibs stunned Rangers 3-0 TWICE in Govan, including a Scottish Cup win, during that campaign 19 years ago. Tony Mowbray’s men finished fourth but Murray fears the top six could be beyond Easter Road boss David Gray this term.
He said: “I still see a massive rebuild for David. “Are they an okay side? Yeah, they’re fine. They’ll pick up points.
“But are they a good side? I won’t go overboard and say that. Again, that’s got nothing to do with David or Malky Mackay going in there.
“That’s just where Hibs are just now. I don’t think the fans are blinkered to that. I think they understand the job David has to do and that it will take time.
“They’ve not had a settled squad for years now. Are they a top-six team? I’m not 100 per cent convinced by that yet.”