Celtic boss Neil Lennon has spoken out about the financial crisis at Rangers in an interview with Sky Sports News.
After a week that saw Ibrox chairman Craig Whyte under attack from former directors the extent of the clubs debt has come under greater media scrutiny.
While some people are already lobbying for Rangers to remain part of the SPL regardless of their finances the Celtic boss takes a more pragmatic look at the situation.
Lennon has made a net profit on Celtic’s transfer dealing and didn’t inherit the richly assembled squad that Ally McCoist enjoyed at the start of the season.
Celtic have been regularly criticised for operating within very tight margins with the hoops boss hoping to enjoy the benefits of that policy.
Lennon told Sky Sports News: “I’m not in the camp who believe the SPL, or Celtic, need a strong Rangers. I’d be quite happy if we were a lot stronger than Rangers.
“A lot of people think Celtic and Rangers need each other, well at the minute we don’t.
“We’re in a strong position financially with good young players coming through but we’ve had to work hard and be patient for that.
“We are talking hypothetically as we don’t know what the outcome is going to be.
“But the people who suffer the most as always are the supporters and I have a lot of sympathy for the Rangers fans with the situation being the way it is at the moment.”
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Well said Lenny, except the bit at the end. You had me filling up here.
Joe! Just how did you find a picture of Neil smiling??? Might need to pass that link onto Scotlands “Newspapers”.
Great interview from Neil. And the bit at the end? He had to say that [whether he meant it or not ;o)].
Apart from the obvious reasons, it’s looking more obvious that the media are pushing this “points deduction per season for say 3 seasons” punishment because if the other SPL clubs and the SPL itself acknowledge them as “Rangers”, they will still be Rangers historically, they wont essentially be a new football club but a continuation. They’ll keep all their trophies and so on.
IF Rangers had to start in say the 3rd division, how can people not think attendances across the SPL would rise significantly? Teams will be desperate to get 2nd place. Teams would have a far better chance of winning the cups. Club owners would be doing all they could to be the team that filled the void left by Rangers. How many leagues are there where a single team dominates year in and year out without a challenge? Yes teams dominate for periods of time but it NEVER stays like that.