PAUL MURRAY insists the Rangers board won’t take undue financial risks in an attempt to stop Celtic going for a historic ten-in-a-row in the Premiership in the coming years.
In a letter to supporters last week, Ibrox chairman Dave King claimed the Light Blues were within ‘tangible reach’ of becoming the ‘dominant force’ in Scottish football once again.
But Steven Gerrard’s side will end the campaign empty-handed as Celtic close in on an eighth successive top flight crown and an unprecedented treble Treble next month.
King and his board will provide funds for Gerrard to strengthen his squad once again during the summer window as Rangers gear up for another shot at the title next term.
Most of that cash will once again come from the Gers chairman and his fellow investors, who have ploughed in several million pounds in recent years to aid the significant rebuilding job on and off the park at Ibrox.
READ MORE: Four years on from regime change at Ibrox, Paul Murray insists progress has been made by Rangers
But Murray, who served at the Rangers top table under Sir David Murray and returned to Ibrox alongside King and John Gilligan four years ago, believes the current incumbents won’t spend dangerously to stop Celtic in their tracks.
He said: “I was around when Rangers won nine-in-a-row and I think it works both ways. It pressures the team who are chasing but it also pressures the team who are leading – in the sense you feel the expectation the closer it gets.
“I well remember Rangers’ quest for ten-in-a-row that season.
"We arguably should have won it but you could see the pressure starting to build on the players as we got closer to the finishing line.
“There is expectation because you are within touching distance of it. Pressure can work both ways.
“For us, as a fan, I think we have to focus on ourselves. We can’t control what other teams do.
“We’ve got to get Rangers to the best level we can get them at. And I don’t think anyone on the board is going to be taking undue risks to do that financially after everything that has happened to the club over the years.
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“I would think it’s a question of focusing on Rangers and trying to get them to be the best they can be. If that leads to stopping Celtic, then it is a consequence of that. But we can’t really control what Celtic do, or indeed any other team.
“The other things is that football comes in cycles. When we were winning nine-in-a-row, you could never see an end to it but teams break up, players leave, managers leave, people lose form, injuries and suspensions come along.
“It can change. There are a lot of variables in football you can’t control.”
The statement from King that Rangers were on course to become the top team in the country once again provoked a series of debates amongst supporters and pundits.
Former Ibrox boss Ally McCoist reaffirmed his belief that further funds will need to be spent to raise the standard of Gerrard's squad.
And Murray will only focus on the job that Gerrard undertakes ahead of the new campaign.
He said: “You guys love these headlines. I even read what Ally was supposed to have said and the headline in the paper.
“Ally didn’t say to Dave “get your chequebook out and buy new players”. From what I could see in the quotes, he didn’t actually say that but that becomes the headline.
“That’s a story that people will always look at in phone-ins and newspapers. How close are they?
“At the end of the day, it comes down to what happens on the pitch. You would imagine Celtic are going to win the league this year so by definition they have been the best team in the country this season. But that’s not to say that can’t change.
“I think the whole league has been more competitive. At one point, I think it was the most competitive league in Europe in terms of the points gap between the top six or seven teams.
“I think it was just one of these headlines that was blown out of proportion. We just have to focus on ourselves, get our own team up to the most competitive level possible and see where that takes us.”
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