Steven Gerrard has made a plea for Dave King to bankroll next season’s title challenge.
At the start of this week the South African based criminal told the gullible that they were within tangible reach of becoming the dominant force in Scottish football. Over the next five weeks Celtic are short odds to win their eighth and ninth successive domestic trophies.
Gerrard has been happy to be the face behind season ticket sales but is now expected to deliver trophies from a squad that includes Andy Halliday, Ryan Jack, Jordan Jones and Young McCrorie.
Cash looks like being very tight this summer with Sports Direct expected to claim a large chunk of season ticket money with no sign of the long standing retail problems starting to bring in some cash.
While the PR exercise goes into overdrive Gerrard is left to deal with reality and the likelihood that he won’t be able to match last season’s spending spree.
Asked about next season’s war-chest discussions he pleaded: “Well I think that it is very clear that we do need backing. I’m not a guy that has a magic wand and all of a sudden, you know, turn, Rangers into a dominant force overnight.
“Everyone knows that every manager needs backing from their chairman, of course. That’s the truth, that’s a fact, we need that to happen.
“We’ve had a conversation, it is nice to hear that the backing will be there but in terms of what level, the amount, I don’t think that’s in the public domain, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Reflecting on King’s plea for season ticket cash the former Liverpool youth coach said: “I respect and welcome the chairman’s opinion, we recently had an open and honest conversation and I look forward to catching up with him face-to-face shortly.
“I’m not a guy with a magic wand, everyone knows we will need backing. There has been progress made in a lot of areas which I am happy with and I have also made it clear where we need to improve the eleven moving forward.
“We want to try and take maximum points tomorrow and then we will look forward to the next game. We don’t have to look at the focus and targets for next season now.
“Things will happen behind the scenes in terms of targets, pre-season and transfers.”
