Joey Barton made just five Scottish Premiership appearances for Rangers during Mark Warburton’s time in charge of the Ibrox club.
Scottish football is not short of its critics and Joey Barton has certainly taken plenty of opportunities to have a dig at the standard of the game north of the border.
The current Fleetwood Town manager obviously does not have pleasant memories of his short spell in Scotland, having played just five games for Rangers before seeing his contract terminated in November 2016 after a training ground disagreement with Andy Halliday.
But even Barton has to admit that the arrival of his former England teammate Steven Gerrard at Rangers has boosted the profile of the Scottish Premiership.
“(Gerrard’s appointment) got the interest back in Scottish football,” Barton told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast on talkSPORT (30 October, 7:00am).
“With the likes of Hearts at the top of the table and Aberdeen and Rangers just being back with the opportunity to win.
“People are now more interested in it because when it was just Celtic and they won everything at a canter it wasn’t good to watch.”
Rangers are fifth in the Scottish Premiership table right now, eight points adrift of leaders Hearts with a game in hand, but they look a far more solid unit under Gerrard, compared to the spells of Mark Warburton, Pedro Caixinha and Graeme Murty.
We could genuinely see a title race in Scotland this year with Rangers making great strides, Craig Levein’s Hearts starting brilliantly and Hibernian and Kilmarnock continuing to impress.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
