Alex Rae suggests Rangers fans are happy with Neil Lennon appointment

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Glasgow Rangers go into this summer with plenty of optimism after a promising campaign at Ibrox.

Alex Rae has told BT Sport that Rangers fans are largely pleased with Neil Lennon getting the Celtic job on a permanent basis because it seems to be an underwhelming appointment when compared with some of the other names that had been linked with the post.

Celtic confirmed shortly after their Scottish Cup final win that Lennon had been offered the manager’s job on a permanent basis after being in interim charge in the wake of Brendan Rodgers’ departure.

The Hoops had been linked with the likes of Rafa Benitez (via Northern Echo) and Jose Mourinho (via Gianluca Di Marzio), and Rae suggested that those links explain exactly why the Rangers fans appear to be very pleased to see Lennon get the gig.

“I think some of the Celtic fans are underwhelmed, with some of the names that were bandied round,” he told BT Sport. “That’s the reason why Rangers supporters are happy when you look that it could have potentially been someone like a Brendan Rodgers, a Benitez.

“They look at Neil and they don’t see the same panache. If it had have been a Rafa Benitez or someone of that stature, they would have been able to attract better players, whereas they don’t see that kind of problem with Neil Lennon.”

It is going to be a fascinating summer for the two Old Firm sides. Celtic went on to secure another domestic Treble, but Steven Gerrard’s men will feel that the gap is there to be closed.

The Gers won the most recent Old Firm game at a canter, and arguably gave Celtic too many problems at Parkhead in their 2-1 defeat considering that they went down to 10 men during the first-half.

Gerrard now needs to prove that his side can put together those brilliant winning runs when the pressure is on. With many Rangers fans feeling that the door has been opened by Celtic handing Lennon the job, the pressure is certainly on the Gers to get much closer or even surpass their rivals next season.