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Neil Warnock Claims The Old Firm Would Finish In Premier League Top Six

Neil Warnock Claims The Old Firm Would Finish In Premier League Top Six

The Middlesbrough manager reckons that Celtic and Rangers could both move south of the border and challenge the likes of Spurs and Arsenal.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Neil Warnock thinks that Celtic and Rangers would be top six Premier League clubs with just 18 months worth of the mega money sides in England's top tier earn.

For years there has been debate about the two Old Firm clubs leaving Scottish football and moving down south to join English football, and the Premier League.

That discussion seemed to have more integrity in the early 00s but Middlesbrough boss Warnock believes that the two clubs would still compete with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United in the top six.

"If you put Celtic and Rangers down in England, you're talking about the top six. Those two clubs, if they got the money that the English clubs have coming in, they would spend it," the 71-year-old told the BBC Scottish Football podcast.

"They'd spend it on good players and they would then compete.

"I look at Celtic and Rangers - I don't think about Man City or Liverpool, I think they're way ahead - but I think the rest below that, Man United, Chelsea, I think Rangers and Celtic would more than cope with that.

"The money that the Premier League [clubs] get, it wouldn't take long (for Celtic and Rangers to compete) - within 18 months, two years."

Celtic beat Hamilton 5-1 at the weekend. Image: PA Images
Celtic beat Hamilton 5-1 at the weekend. Image: PA Images

Celtic have won the league title nine times in-a-row north of the border and began their attempt to become the first side to win 10 in-a-row at the weekend, with a 5-1 win over Hamilton.

During that spell their fierce rivals Rangers were relegated to the bottom tier of Scottish football amidst financial problems and they've had next to no competition.

They have struggled in Europe, only once getting out of the Champions League group stages in that time and not even making it that far on four occasions.

The Hoops have had some famous wins in Europe over the years, beating Manchester United in 2006 and Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers in 2003.

Manchester City failed to beat them in two occasions in 2017 and they have their famous win over Barcelona in 2012.

Despite all that expecting them to compete week in, week out, with the likes of Leicester City and Wolves, never mind the traditional top six, would currently seem far fetched.

Where do you think Celtic and Rangers would finish in the Premier League? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Manchester City, Liverpool, Football News, Chelsea, Celtic, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Scottish Football, Scottish Premiership, Neil Warnock, Premier League, Arsenal, Old Firm, Rangers