Celtic legend, Neil Lennon has said that Rangers are stronger this year in an interview on talkSport.
As quoted in, the Sun, Lennon said, “There’s no question Rangers are stronger this year.”
The current Hibernian manager explained how the Scottish Premiership is now much more competitive and a “sexier” league as a result.
This comes after a summer which saw Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard become manger and bring in a whole host of new players to help push Celtic harder for the title this season.
Burnley midfielder Scott Arfield and Hull City goalkeeper Allan McGregor lead the big names Gerrard has attracted to Ibrox, as well as Ovie Ejaria and 5ft 6in Ryan Kent both on loan from his former team Liverpool.
Lennon added: “So the competition is getting stronger and the league is getting sexier with a lot of big clubs going bang at it again.
“Celtic have been the dominant team and I think they will continue to be that but I think everyone is starting to build and get closer to that.”
With the backing of the former Celtic man Rangers are already looking to take advantage of their rivals early slip up after Celtic lost 1-0 to Hearts at the weekend. This has blown the league wide open and with Rangers sitting in an early second place they will be confident of challenging for top spot come the end of the season.
OPINION
Steven Gerrard has brought the belief back into Rangers since his arrival in the summer. There is now a feeling that they can finally break the years of Celtic dominance in the top-flight of Scottish football. Rangers certainly are stronger now than they were 12 months ago and that is down to Gerrard himself, he has been able to attract players who before would have gone elsewhere, many of which have come from south of the boarder. But importantly his connection to Liverpool has helped to bring in a couple of rising stars on loan – Ovie Ejaria and Ryan Kent will both play a significant role in how Rangers do this season and their arrivals are both down to the new manager’s connections. The fact a former Celtic man in Neil Lennon is pointing out how strong Rangers look this season shows just how far they’ve come already under Gerrard but it’s still too early in the season to judge. Should Rangers take the challenge to Celtic all season long or even win the league then Gerrard’s sides strength will be clear for all to see.