Former Celtic star John Hartson has praised the appointment of Steven Gerrard at Rangers, saying it will ‘change the mindset’ at the club – but insists it is ‘almost impossible’ for them to contend with Celtic for the SPL title next season.

Rangers have high hopes coming into the new season with former Liverpool midfielder Gerrard taking over. Having finished third in the previous two seasons, many believe that it is now time for the Gers to mount a challenge for some silverware.

But Hartson, who made close to 150 appearances for Celtic between 2001 and 2006, believes Brendan Rodgers men will be ‘almost impossible’ to overcome.

“I think it (the appointment of Gerrard) is exciting for Scottish football and will raise the interest massively this season,” said Hartson.

“Stevie is a class act and he will certainly make an impact in that dressing room, but he has taken on a massive job in his first challenge as a manager.

“I think he will find it almost impossible to finish ahead of Celtic this season as the gap between the two clubs has grown massively in recent years.”

“I know how special Celtic fans are and there seems to be a real feelgood factor amongst them since Brendan came in as manager.

“He has revived the club, got the team playing some great football and it will be tough for Rangers to overcome that momentum, even if they have someone of the stature of Steven Gerrard as manager.

“Don’t forget, they finished behind Aberdeen last season, so the idea that they can leap up two places and cut down a big gap with Celtic is not realistic in my eyes.

“I look at the Rangers performance against Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final last season and it was embarrassing. They lost 5-0 and a lot of their senior players didn’t show up for what should have been the biggest game of the season.

“Gerrard going in there will change the mindset and lift expectations, but he cannot be expected to turn everything around quickly. Especially in his first job as a manager.”
[Quotes via TalkSPORT]