Martin O’Neill warns that Rangers simply can’t be trusted to win games away from home.
The former Celtic boss has issued a withering assessment of the Gers squad, which he feels is well short of the standard required, which is evidenced by how far off the title pace they are so early in the campaign. The gap sits at nine points – behind both their city rivals and Aberdeen – after just 11 games.
And while O’Neill was impressed with how Philippe Clement’s team played away to Olympiacos in their recent 1-1 Europa League draw, it’s the trips to the likes of Perth and Kilmarnock that the current Ibrox squad just can’t seem to handle. Her told GO Radio: “Rangers are just not good enough and I’ve been saying that for some time now. I don’t want that to be a cheap jibe because I’ve often said, for ~Celtic to stay strong, they need a strong Rangers side.
“Rangers football club is a great club, there’s no doubt at all about it. But the players that they have at this minute, or a number of them, are not up to the standard that Rangers really should be looking at. That’s my viewpoint.
“I thought they did really fine against Olympiacos. i thought they played really well in that game. But you cannot trust Rangers to go and win games away from home. Let’s say they are playing up at St Johnstone or at Kilmarnock on the plastic pitch.. you just don;t really fancy them. Whereas Craig (Moore’s) Rangers side, you just knew they’d get a result somewhere along the way, obviously to my chagrin at the time.
“But overall, that’s the point. I feel that Celtic’s European experience is now standing them in good stead. They’ve gotten a lot of confidence from playing so well against Atalanta and then betting the big result against Leipzig.
“So in terms of confidence, when was the last time after 11 league matches that Rangers found themselves nine points behind? That hasn’t happened in some time.”