Connor Goldson on why Rangers are now '100 times better' than the club he joined in 2018

Connor Goldson has admitted he didn’t fully appreciate the gulf which existed between Celtic and Rangers when he joined the Ibrox club in the summer of 2018.

Connor Goldson celebrates outside the Rangers training ground on Sunday after the Ibrox club were confirmed as the new Premiership champions. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

As one of manager Steven Gerrard’s first and key signings continues to savour Rangers’ first title win for a decade, he has paid tribute to the transformation which has taken place on his watch.

“You look at the club today and it is 100 times better than the club that I joined,” said Goldson, an ever-present for Rangers so far this season.

“Yeah, it (winning the league) was part of the vision (when I signed). Did I think it would be three years later? Probably not. Before it, I’d probably say I didn’t know how far behind Rangers were at that time.

“I didn’t realise that until I came up here and actually played that first season. You do have doubts. But, at the same time, we have worked our socks off and the recruitment has been brilliant.

“That is not just playing squad, it (the improvement) is all around the place and what has been done in the canteen, what has been done at the training ground, what has been done at Ibrox.

“The whole place has improved and that is credit to every single staff member that works here to the board and the chairman to put in what it takes to make this club successful. It has paid off.”

As the celebrations among the Rangers squad subside and they set their sights on Thursday’s Europa League last 16 first leg assignment away to Slavia Prague, Goldson insists there is a desire to add to the first major trophy success of the Gerrard era.

“Definitely,” he said. “We had a meeting about it [on Tuesday] and the pressure that now comes with being champions is completely different to chasing and being the underdog and finishing second for the last how many years. Now we need to go on and prove that we are worthy of being champions and that starts (with the rest of) this season. We are only in March and there is a lot of the season still to play.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.