Graeme Souness says Rangers boss Mark Warburton deserves credit

By Michael Kelleher

Wednesday 13 April 2016 13:01, UK

Graeme Souness has hailed Rangers manager Mark Warburton for the job he has done in helping the club gain promotion to the Scottish Premiership.

The Englishman inherited a demoralised squad after Rangers' promotion bid crumbled 12 months ago but he has quickly turned the club's fortunes around and helped them clinch the Championship crown last week.

The Gers won the Petrofac Training Cup on Sunday and head into this weekend's William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final with Celtic on a high - a game you can watch live on Sky Sports 2 HD from 11.00am on Sunday.

Souness is credited with revitalising Rangers when he took over as player/manager in 1986.

The former Liverpool midfielder helped attract big-name signings from England such as Terry Butcher, Graham Roberts and Chris Woods, and laid the foundations for the nine successive titles they won from 1989.

However, the landscape of Scottish football is much changed in the years since and Souness believes his challenge was much easier than the one which greeted Warburton when he arrived last summer.

Souness said: "He's had a far more difficult job than I had. There were so many things that worked in our favour at the time, such as the problems English football had.

"We could match any one of the English team for their spending power. English teams were banned from Europe, so we had lots of things going for us. That job was a lot easier for me that it was for Mark taking over at Rangers this time.

"I think he deserves a great deal of credit. I don't know the guy but I sat next to him at Wembley for the Norwich-Middlesbrough play-off game. I spent maybe 10 minutes talking to him but found him to be a very impressive, calm, nice human being. He's done a great job."

Sunday's clash with Celtic at Hampden marks Warburton's first taste of a Glasgow derby but he has been keen to play down the game's significance in the build-up.

When told Warburton referred to Sunday's game as "just another match", Souness said: "Really? Well it certainly isn't. It's the biggest derby I've been involved in.

"The Liverpool-Everton one is a friendly derby. The Galatasaray one with Fenerbahce is a big game but it still doesn't come near this one.

"Nothing prepared me for the passion and the enormity of this job. A lot of the enormity is in your own mind because you feed off the passion your supporters have for your football club. You absorb that and start to feel guilty when you've not done the best for them.

"So Mark must feel that. He's been here long enough to realise what these two clubs mean to their supporters. It's greater here than anywhere else. And that's why it's not just another derby."

Celtic are currently eight points clear at the summit of the Scottish Premiership and on course to clinch their fifth successive title, but Souness predicts Rangers will give Ronny Deila's side a much closer examination than they managed in last year's League Cup semi-final.

Then a Gers team led by caretaker boss Kenny McDowall seemed relieved to escape Hampden after suffering just a 2-0 defeat.

"Celtic obviously start as the big favourites," Souness said at a press conference promoting Sunday's semi-final.

"They play in the top league. The challenge for Rangers is to turn up and make a game of it. They didn't do that last year.

"Anything can happen in derbies but Celtic must start as the outstanding favourites. I want Rangers to do themselves justice.

"I would hope it would be closer this time. Rangers are better than they were last year. Are Celtic? I'm not sure. Rangers certainly are but I don't think that means they are going to turn up and have an easy game.

"It will be difficult because Celtic are used to playing against better players every week, they are used to moving the ball quicker, having a quicker thought process.