John Hartson has delivered a scathing attack on opinion man Mark Warburton.
The former city trader has been mouthing off about artificial pitches for two weeks and accused Ronny Deila of being disrespectful for having a different opinion.
Rather than concentrate on his own club’s dire finances and dependency on shady Hong Kong based lenders Warburton has spent the last few months on running down the Scottish game.
In his column in the Scottish Sun Hartson asked: “Who the hell does Mark Warburton think he is to come out and criticise the Celtic boss?
“Deila has a lot to answer for. But if he thinks Warburton’s views on astroturf pitches are old-fashioned then he’s entitled to say it. Good on the Celtic gaffer for fighting his corner.
“For Warburton to have a go for supposedly showing him a lack of respect is laughable.
I must have missed something as last I heard Rangers were a Championship club.
“Celtic are four-in-a-row Premiership champions, so if anyone should be showing some respect it’s Warburton. You would think he would have enough to worry about at Ibrox. Warburton should just concentrate on winning promotion and getting some money for new players.
“Instead of bothering about Deila, the Rangers boss should be chapping Dave King’s door asking him where the money is for new players.
“Starting a fight on how good or bad plastic parks are is just pathetic. Warburton just seems to get bothered about things which I don’t think he should be too concerned about.
And it begs the question: What’s he going to be like when Rangers win promotion to the top flight?
“More to the point, what’s he going to be like when he’s in the eye of the storm at an Old Firm game? Let me tell you, Mark, this is a stroll compared to what you have coming.
Hartson added: “ Believe it or not, I actually like Warburton and think he’s done a good job since taking charge.
“He was the right appointment for Rangers, and I think he’s brought the club on from where they were a year ago but let’s get it right, they are still a million miles away from Celtic.
“Rangers will win promotion in May, and I hope they do because Scottish football needs the big two in the same league. The two sets of players would also love it but they are not even in the same ballpark as Celtic.
“It’s going to take four years at least before they challenge for the title. Gers are facing years of mid-table obscurity. Sure, some major investment in the playing squad could see them speed things up, but what’s the chances of that?
“Rangers were meant to be over-investing in their squad, but that’s not happened.
“Guys like Kenny Miller and Lee Wallace must seriously wonder if Warburton knows what’s coming his way when he’s got four Old Firm games a season to deal with.
“Because if this is him now, God help him when he’s just lost 4-0 at Parkhead and the bears are screaming for his head.”