Former Rangers star and manager and regular Sky Sports pundit Ally McCoist has revealed his delight at the improvement of performances at Ibrox this season but has predicted there will be no league title heading to the club in Steven Gerrard’s first season.
The Gers have enjoyed a bright start to their European campaign, sitting top of their Europa League group after three games, while their home form domestically has been impressive, their away results letting them down in the hunt for the Premiership.
McCoist, a regular feature on Sky when discussing Scottish football, stated there is no doubt the Light Blues have improved, but insists that does not mean a title is on its way.
He told Sky Sports: “Listen, there’s been a marked improvement in the level of performance in the start to the season, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that, I think Rangers supporters would see that.
“Has there been enough improvement to go and challenge and win the league? No, I don’t think so – but I didn’t think there ever would be. Steven’s making his mark on the league and on his own team and I think that would naturally take time.”
Opinion
The Scottish Premiership is a marathon, not a sprint, and after a mixed start to the season the Gers can be proud that they are still very much within touching distance of league leaders Hearts, who are five points ahead but have played a game extra, or fierce rivals Celtic, Brendan Rodgers’ men sitting second with a four point gap. For a man who has never been a manager before, Gerrard has got his side playing some good football and with a European campaign to contend with, the fact they are battling away at the top domestically while remaining in the driving seat for qualification to the knock out stages in Europe is a huge achievement. McCoist is right in saying that the boss needs to take time to stamp his authority at Ibrox and make the team he inherited into winners, and with 15 new signings in summer he is well on his way. However it takes more than new recruits for glory and the second half of the season will show whether he has what it takes to drive his team to success – be that this season or in campaigns to come.