A BERTH in the last 32 of the Europa League is up for grabs, with Rangers currently leading their section and having gone 11 games in continental play unbeaten. But David Weir knows only too well that the Ibrox supporters would swap it all tomorrow for making sure Celtic don’t rack up ten Ladbrokes Premiership titles in a row.
Not only is it seven titles and counting, but Rangers, who racked up a £14m annual loss for the last 12 months, can only dream of the financial muscle which the Parkhead side have managed to build up.
“The fear of ten won’t go away and that is the nature of the beast,” said Weir. “Everyone knows that is in the back of every Rangers fans’ mind and that is the worst-case scenario. They would sacrifice everything else for that to be stopped.
“I don’t think the fans want to close the gap on Celtic, they went to get past them,” he added. “Closing the gap isn’t good enough. People can talk about six points, nine points, or 30 points, it is still a gap. Until you overcome the gap, will the fans be happy?"
While playing Thursday-Sunday up until Christmas isn't the easiest, at least Celtic are in the same boat. "They have to look to win all their games before the Old Firm game in December because everyone is capable of beating anyone in this league, you have seen that already this season," said Weir. "Hearts have improved, so have Hibs and Kilmarnock and Aberdeen are always competitive. Then you look at the Livingstons and Motherwells, these are difficult games as well.
"If you are playing on a Thursday night and then coming back and having to play on a Sunday lunchtime, it is tough on you. So Rangers have to navigate that to be competitive and challenging Celtic. Fortunately for them, right now, Celtic are in the same boat. That keeps it on a level playing field, but the other teams aren’t and that gives them a slight advantage going into matches. Rangers are going to have to work doubly hard.”
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