Kealan Hughes

Wed 3 February 2021 12:24, UK

Former Rangers player Andy Halliday thinks his old outfit are far better than their Old Firm rivals, and lavished praise on Steven Gerrard’s team.

Halliday now turns out for Hearts in the Scottish Championship but has naturally kept a close eye on the title race and the Gers’ development this season.

He also took an opportunity to wind up Celtic supporters by suggesting his combined Rangers-Celtic XI would not include any Celtic players.

Appearing on the Open Goal Podcast, he said, “The truth of the matter is that in my opinion Rangers are better by a country mile.

“It took Rangers a long time to bridge the gap to Celtic and I think it has flipped now.

“I took a lot of stick at the start of the year when I did Si’s (Si Ferry) radio station and people said ‘do a combined XI’.

“I knew it was a stitch-up from the start because it was never going to go down well and I had eight Rangers players in.

“But I’d like to change it now and I would have 11.”

Wind-up or reality?

The fact Halliday is entertaining an all Rangers line-up shows how much progress we have made this year.

Yes he may be on a bit of a wind-up, as Odsonne Edouard and Ryan Christie are notable absentees, but he is right in suggesting we have been way, way better than our rivals.

It is not simply because of the results we have picked up, either.

We have conceded a remarkable seven goals in 26 games, the least amount of any team in the division by some distance.

Celtic’s 20 goals conceded is next best, yet the Bhoys have only scored 55 goals compared to our 66.

Gerrard has made us better than anyone else in both attack and defence, and on current form it is difficult to see a Celtic player forcing his way into our side.

Kemar Roofe’s 0.86 goals per 90 mins is greater than Edouard’s 0.76 (BBC Sport), so we would arguably not even improve if the Frenchman was included.

In other Rangers news, Ibrox View: 50% pass accuracy, lost possession 14x – New Rangers signing has huge task ahead.