John Brown: Rangers can be best of the rest

Rangers great John Brown says the Ibrox side have more firepower at their disposal than Aberdeen and Hearts. Picture: SNS Group

Brown accepts that  Celtic are over the horizon but believes Rangers are more than a match for Aberdeen and Hearts because they have more firepower.

And having been a key  figure in the Rangers squad that won nine successive titles, he says he does not fear Celtic reaching ten because so much can change in the next few seasons.

Brown, pictured, said: “Realistically, second place will be a great result for this club this season. This club is all about winners but from where we’ve been in recent years it was always going to take time. It’s a rebuild job.

“The manager has done very well in my opinion. He got us through the Championship last season, got us to the Scottish Cup final and beat Celtic along the way.

“After that the fans perhaps got a bit carried away.

“Under the previous Celtic manager, it looked as though the dressing room had been lost.

“Coming into this season it was always going to be a tall order to be up there challenging Celtic but who is to say the gap won’t close?

“Rangers have more options in the forward areas than Aberdeen or Hearts. When everything clicks, they will score more goals while Aberdeen and Hearts will struggle to get victories. With the crowd backing they should be good enough to get second spot.”

With Celtic on their way to their sixth consecutive championship there are fears among Rangers men that they may set a new record but Brown is calm about it.

He said: “I don’t worry about it. Can you hold your breath for four years? It’s a long time and a lot of things can change and you can get a rub of the green.

“I think Rangers will be a force again next  season and will be a hell of a lot stronger.”

Brown was speaking as he was joined by a number of ex-players and current staff at Ibrox for a launch of a new biography written by Tom Miller on Rangers  and Hearts great Sandy Jardine, who passed away two years ago.