Tuesday 8 May 2018 10:18, UK
Rangers chairman Dave King has warned Celtic that one title win under Steven Gerrard's management will make their domination of Scottish football collapse like "a pack of cards".
The South Africa-based businessman appointed Gerrard as Rangers new boss on a four-year contract, and believes the former Liverpool captain can close the gap on champions Celtic, who have won seven Scottish Premiership titles in a row.
On Monday King announced plans to launch a new share issue "immediately" with a target of raising funds to help Gerrard put together a squad to challenge Brendan Rodgers' side.
When asked how Rangers might close the gap, King told reporters: "We appoint a manager who can win games, with more resources, and we take one league away from Celtic.
"We only need one league. We don't need two or three. We need one. Once we take one away, it's a pack of cards.
"Celtic's costs structure is more like we were 10 years ago. We needed Champions League football and if we went into the Europa League we were in trouble because the cost structure was so high.
"Take that away for one season and it will change the numbers in the Celtic side very, very quickly.
"They have the comfort levels we once had of knowing we were going to get Champions League money. We have to take that away from them and hopefully we have started that process on Friday.
"The question is, that with Celtic's resources, does it put you beyond them forever? The answer is clearly no.
"We have seen the cycle. I was with Rangers when we thought Celtic would never catch up - never in a hundred years. Dick Advocaat said they would never, ever catch up. I think it lasted 17 minutes of the next game we played against them (Celtic's 6-2 win in August 2000.)
"They caught up with us 17 minutes into the next game and then went past us because Martin O'Neill came in and figured out a different way to do it.
"You need the right management structure to do it. We have now gone very, very strong in the management squad."
King believes the arrival of Gerrard could force Celtic to respond by spending during the summer transfer window.
He said: "It depends if they decide to invest or how well they invest.
"One would expect a reaction from Celtic to the appointment of Steven - we will have to wait and see what it is.
"With all Celtic's resources they are not a million points away from Aberdeen or Hibs. They have resources that are far less than what we have at the moment.
"We are bringing in a manager we think can tip the balance in our favour. Celtic might be over-resourced but you can still only play 11 players. They have a big squad earning a lot of wages but these wages are not all getting on the pitch. There are opportunities there."
