Scottish Football Association president Alan McRae has urged Rangers to end Celtic’s domestic dominance next season.
Celtic cruised to a sixth consecutive Scottish Premiership title last season by an incredible 30-point margin, remaining unbeaten throughout their entire domestic campaign.
Their undefeated record also saw them run out as winners in both domestic cup competitions, earning the Scottish giants a first domestic treble since the 2000-01 season.
However, Scottish chief McRae believes another Celtic triumph would be “boring and dreary” for the Scottish league, and has urged Rangers to put up more of a fight next season to end their dominance.
Rangers finished 39 points adrift of their Old Firm rivals in third-place in the Scottish Premiership last term, but could be set to turn over a new leaf during Pedro Caixinha’s first full season in charge at Ibrox next term.
McRae told the Daily Record: “It’s difficult for other clubs to compete with Celtic because they’re flying at the moment.
“It was a fantastic achievement to come through both cups and the league undefeated – it was amazing. But I hope it won’t happen again next season because we’ve got to have challengers.
“They’ll know you need to have other people challenging otherwise it will get boring and dreary. We definitely need a good, strong Rangers. They’re back now but they still have a bit to go.”
Rangers’ preparations for the new season have already got off to a flying start, with Caixinha having already added as many as five new additions to his first-team squad.
Bruno Alves, Ryan Jack, Fabio Cardoso, Dalcio and Daniel Candeias are the players to have successfully joined the Ibrox ranks, but with several more likely to follow, Caixinha hopes they can help his side challenge at the top.
Celtic, on the other hand, have yet to open their own account in the transfer market, although talks are reportedly under way for at least one new addition.
The Daily Record claimed last week that Brendan Rodgers’ side had tabled a £1.2million bid for Aberdeen winger Jonny Hayes, as the Parkhead chief seeks his own quality reinforcements.