Rangers have scuppered their own title chances with off-field drama, claims former Celtic boss

Gordon Strachan believes Rangers have orchestrated their own downfall in their bid to stop rivals Celtic from winning a ninth successive league title.

The Rangers players react after St Johnstone score their equaliser in Sunday's 2-2 draw

The 63-year-old ex-Scotland boss, who managed the Hoops between 2005 and 2009, told the Daily Record that a series of off-field incidents and disciplinary showdowns have distracted some of the Ibrox side's key players as a 2-2 draw with St Johnstone at the weekend saw them fall 12 points behind Celtic in the race for the Scottish Premiership flag.

Pointing to the Sky Sports "translation-gate" interview with Alfredo Morelos, along with the police probe into claims the Colombian's car was tampered with and the Scottish FA investigating the same player's gesture to fans during December's Old Firm match, Strachan said: "[In December], Rangers looked like a really focused team.

"Now I don’t know if this is right or not, but could it be that all the nonsense in the media has affected the Rangers players more than Celtic’s?

"Over the last couple of months we’ve had everything from gestures to statements, interviews and mysterious translations. Who was behind that? What’s this guy doing? What does that gesture mean? It’s been madness.

“Now I don’t know if it’s been a factor or not but something seems to have affected the Rangers players and it could be all these other things going on away from the football."

However, Strachan isn't prepared to dismiss the Light Blues' credentials just yet, insisting that the title race could yet go down to the wire.