Bullish Kris Boyd insists he’ll NEVER accept Rangers being Simply Second Best after years in Celtic’s shadow.
The relentless Hoops overtook Gers’ proud trophy haul at the weekend by lifting the League Cup at Hampden – edging them one in front of their bitter rivals with 119 major honours. It’s been an astonishing period of dominance by Celts, who have won a remarkable 41 pieces of silverware since the turn of the millennium in comparison to just 18 collected across the city.
The financial chasm between the bitter Glasgow rivals has arguably never been greater and Treble-chasing Celtic could stretch even further in front of Rangers as Scotland’s most successful club come May, when the Premiership title and Scottish Cup are handed out. Gers diehard Boyd admits he can’t believe the shift in power between both clubs having grown up during the golden nine-in-a-row era. But the Ibrox legend has made it clear he’ll never settle for Rangers being second best as they continue to chase down Celtic.
“I think Rangers have got to take credit for the way they performed against Celtic, but they left with nothing”, he told Sky Sports. “Growing up a Rangers fan and they were winning all the time, times have changed in Scotland. But I don’t think I can change who I am. Rangers, for me, was brought up on winning trophies and it’s not been the case in recent times and Celtic have been doing that.
“Whether I have to change and accept that second best is enough… then I would never do that. I think a lot of Rangers fans are the same. All you hear from a lot of fans is that ‘we did okay’, but I’m sure there will be a lot of other fans there saying, ‘well, you need to start winning things’.
“Credit to Celtic, you look at the way they find a way. It wasn’t their best performance at the weekend, defensively I thought they were vulnerable. But going forward, Celtic caused Rangers problems again. Both obviously scored three goals but I think for Brendan Rodgers and Celtic, they’ve managed to get it over the line again and that is a big thing.
“There seems to be that winning mentality there. It doesn’t matter however well Rangers play, Celtic seem to come out on top. Rangers will be hoping for a different outcome with a full house on January 2 but I still think they are going to have to perform better. They aren’t winning games against Celtic and that has to change.”
Boyd’s allegiances are crystal clear lie but the legendary striker was honest enough to predict that Celtic would be crowned four-in-a-row champions at the start of the season. With Brendan Rodgers’ runaway leaders boasting a nine point gap over second-placed Aberdeen and 11 ahead of Rangers, Boyd can’t see any other outcome than a 55th title for the Parkhead club.
He said: “Celtic will be league champions, there’s no getting away from it. At the start of the season it was already going to be very difficult for the rest because of the way Celtic have been operating for a number of years now in terms of the money they’ve banked, the players they’ve signed and they’ve sold them at the right time. They’ve been in total control of their destiny as such.
“Maybe in the past they would have taken a deal and undersold a player… they don’t need to do that now. It’s a club that has been run properly from top to bottom now for a number of years and I felt as if Celtic would win the league. I didn’t expect Rangers to be third in the middle of December but that’s where it’s at right now. Yeah, Rangers have a game in hand but Aberdeen haven’t won in five games either. So that shows you how disappointing a start it’s been for Rangers. It has to improve.
“There have been signs recently that performances have been better. Ianis Hagi has come back in and helped, Nico Raskin has returned to form, Igamane has been a find because it wasn’t happening for Rangers in that No.9 position. James Tavernier, the captain, his last few performances have shown that he’s still up for it and still contributing to Rangers between now and the end of the season. It has been a lot better but they are going to have to find another level if they are going to get anywhere near Celtic.”