Kilmarnock midfielder Gary Dicker says the quality at Celtic can only be a good thing for the Scottish Premiership.
HITC Sport spoke exclusively to Kilmarnock star Gary Dicker, who arrived in the Scottish Premiership in February 2016. The midfielder gave his views on the recent debate regarding Celtic’s dominance of Scottish football.
The Bhoys are well on course to win their sixth straight Scottish title this season, with Brendan Rodgers’ men currently 11 points clear of 2nd placed Rangers, as well as having 2 games in hand on their Glasgow rivals.
Dicker told HITC Sport that he didn’t agree that Celtic’s strength was a negative for Scottish football but quite the opposite, claiming that the improved quality under Rodgers at Celtic Park this season can “only be a good thing.”
Celtic are much improved under Brendan Rodgers
As part of our interview with the former Ireland under-21 international, we asked Dicker just how far he believes Celtic are ahead of the chasing pack, and whether he expects anyone to challenge them anytime soon.
“It’s up to the rest of us,” Dicker stated, “It’s always good to be chasing. Obviously they’ve got the resources, but that means nothing. They’ve improved the league and that’s a good thing. Challenge improves you.”
Dicker’s own team Kilmarnock currently find themselves 6th in the Scottish Premiership, 25 points behind the leaders Celtic but only 4 points ahead of Partick Thistle, who are propping up Scotland’s first tier right now.
Gary Dicker has spent more than 10 months in the Scottish Premiership
The debate over Celtic’s dominance is one which has become increasingly prominent. Welsh pundit Robbie Savage caused a stir recently with his remarks that some of the credit given to Brendan Rodgers has been a little generous as even he could win the league if he was made the Bhoys boss.
Dicker also feels that the Scottish football is given some unfair criticism from south of the border, telling us, “The standard is a lot better than people say, and the support is huge. The fans are certainly there.”
Having played in Ireland, England and now Scotland for more than a decade, Dicker is well-placed to comment on such matters, but struggled to liken the Scottish Premiership to any one league in England, telling us, “It’s a tough question, there’s such a big pool of players in England.”
The 30-year-old also spoke to us about Kilmarnock’s aims this season and why he’s backing his former club Brighton to win promotion to the Premier League this season. Those articles are available to read exclusively on HITC Sport here and here.
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