RANGERS legend Archie Knox has warned against reading too much into the way Celtic were swept aside at Ibrox earlier this month, saying that Neil Lennon’s men would have had one eye on the Scottish Cup Final.
The champions were comprehensively beaten by Rangers on the day, with the hosts running out the victors in a comprehensive 2-0 win.
But Knox doesn’t think that win, or the victory in December, should lull Rangers into a false sense of security ahead of next season as they look to mount a title challenge.
“Rangers beat Celtic twice last season, but you have to examine the teams in the last one,” Knox said.
“Celtic weren’t at full-strength and the league was over and done with.
“You would see a difference if there was something to play for, albeit the Celtic supporters wouldn’t want to accept this because they will think their players should always be up for it playing Rangers, but that certainly wasn’t the case in the last game.
“They had one eye on the cup final that day.”
As well as urging Rangers to bring leaders into the side this summer, Knox feels that his old side are a little short of quality too when it comes to bridging the gap on their city rivals.
And while the prospect of attracting players with top-level European experience, as was the case in his day, may be a thing of the past, he is hoping that Steven Gerrard can quickly blood in some prospects and some older heads to find the perfect blend to overthrow Celtic as champions.
“We were bringing in two or three but to have five or six players being recruited to come straight into your team and trying to get them settled is difficult,” Knox said. “We were lucky in the level of player we were bringing in at that time who were top international players.
“I remember a Chic Young interview with Walter [Smith] in the Ibrox tunnel and Chic asked Walter if he thought Basile Boli and Brian Laudrup were good enough to play in the Champions League.
“ Boli had scored a Champions League winner for Marseille and Laudrup had played seven games for Bayern Munich in the Champions League. So that was the level of player.
“A lot of what both Celtic and Rangers will be trying to do is get a couple of top players who can help the rest and some other ones who can develop by playing in the team.”
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