By Jonty Banks

23rd May, 2023 | 7:10am

Chris Sutton hits back at Kenny Miller after BBC Sportscene admission on Rangers and Celtic

Chris Sutton has hit back at Kenny Miller’s verdict that Rangers have gone “toe-to-toe” with Celtic since Michael Beale arrived at Ibrox.

Speaking on BBC Sportscene [21 May] after the Gers’ comfortable 3-1 victory over Hibernian, Miller highlighted that Beale has a realistic chance of acquiring more points than Ange Postecoglou since taking the reins from Giovanni van Bronckhorst in November.

The English manager has reduced the gap at the top of the table from nine to eight points during his time in the Ibrox hot seat, however taking to Twitter in response [23 May], Sutton made his thoughts quite clear on Celtic’s domination.

He wrote: “Toe to toe = drew league game that really mattered at home, lost League Cup final, lost Scottish Cup semi final, lost league game that really really mattered … won meaningless dead rubber… everyone’s toe to toe is different in fairness to Kenny.”

Recent form

To an extent, Sutton does have a point about the glaring gap that has been apparent for the most part of the season.

The fact that the Gers have lost four Old Firm’s, drawn one and only managed to come away victorious in a single encounter, shows the gulf in class that has been evident.

It is only in recent weeks, possibly due to Celtic taking their foot off the gas, that Rangers have come roaring back into the equation, winning the Old Firm at Ibrox 3-0 and taking maximum points from their post-split fixtures so far.

It is no coincidence that this improvement in form has come after Beale’s clarity on the futures of the likes of Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent and Ryan Jac, with the likes of Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin subsequently being given a larger role to play.

This season was always going to be somewhat of a write-off after the disappointing start under Van Bronckhorst and it is now all about building a squad capable of winning the Scottish Premiership next campaign.

Then Sutton can have no complaints about Beale going “toe-to-toe” with Postecoglou.

In other Rangers news, a forgotten man is Ibrox-bound after a transfer decision has been made.