Former Ibrox hero Graham Roberts has backed Rangers to win the Scottish Premiership if they can overcome their bitter Old Firm rivals in the remaining derbies, as reported in an interview in The Scottish Sun.
Roberts was part of the Gers side who ended their nine-year wait for league success in 1986/87 after Graeme Souness arrived in Scotland to change domestic football forever, so is well placed to comment on what is required at Ibrox to end the barren run.
Roberts has been impressed with his former charges this season and in particular, the continued improvements made in the defence, a quality that he can relate to given his experiences at Ibrox with Chris Woods and Terry Butcher.
On Rangers chance of winning the league he said:
“Rangers have been solid this season and they are level on points with Celtic”.
“I think that it’s going to come down to the derbies — if they can win them then I would say Rangers will be champions”.
“Last season, they’d go to the likes of Aberdeen and Hibs and they would draw or lose games. This year, though, Steven’s got them playing well and far more consistent. They’re much more ruthless than they were last year”.
“It’s going down to the wire, there’s no doubt about that”.
At the moment, yes, on paper, the Light Blues have performed marginally better than champions Celtic against the rest of the league, there is no arguing against that but the first derby result is responsible for the Hoops edging the lead on goal difference.
The only dropped points in non-Old Firm games Rangers have suffered have been against Hearts at Tynecastle, whereas Celtic have lost at Livingston and drawn against Hibernian at Easter Road.
Celtic are currently top of the league by just one extra goal scored so, given that they won the first Old Firm fixture 2-0, you can see that Rangers have scored more and conceded fewer goals against the rest of the Scottish Premiership. Still, failure to lay a glove on their bitter rivals in the remaining fixtures could prove costly, making an already fierce game even more dramatic when the two sides meet later in the campaign.
It is still early days in the title race but the current indications are that it is going to be a close-run thing, with neither side showing signs of cracking. Indeed, Roberts is right in that it could be the nine points up for grabs in the remaining Old Firm games that decide the destination of this year’s league title and the so-far elusive ’55’.
Does Roberts have a point? Join the discussion by commenting below…
