Jamie Carragher has told Sky Sports that it’s ‘unfortunate for Celtic and Rangers’ that the Premier League is bigger than the Scottish Premiership after Steven Gerrard joined Aston Villa.
The Sky pundit claimed that both Celtic and Rangers are two ‘fantastic’ clubs, but Gerrard moving to Villa isn’t a case of who is the bigger club, but the fact that the Premier League is bigger than the SPL.
On Thursday, Villa confirmed that Gerrard is the new man in their dugout after they sacked their boyhood fan Dean Smith last Sunday.
Villa are sitting in the bottom half of the Premier League table and are on a run of five league defeats on the bounce.
It’s understandable if those at Ibrox would be disappointed at Gerrard leaving the Gers midway through the season.
But as Carragher explained, the lure of one of the best leagues in the world and a club the size of Villa was just too good to turn down for his old mate.
“In terms of going from the SPL to the Premier League,” said Carragher. “I just don’t think it’s a decision, that’s just unfortunate for Celtic and Rangers.
“They are two of the biggest clubs anywhere. They really are. I’m not going to be disrespectful to either of those clubs, they are absolute giants.
“It’s not how big Villa is compared to Rangers. It’s how big the Premier League is compared to the Scottish Premiership. It’s night and day.
“Any player who gets the opportunity, whether he is playing for Celtic and Rangers, or a manager to move to the Premier League, then everyone would make that move.
“We saw that a few years ago with Brendan Rodgers leaving Celtic to Leicester. It’s a problem for those two fantastic clubs. But when a Premier League club comes for you, certainly one as big as Aston Villa, then it’s a no-brainer.”
Until the Scottish Premiership has the finances of England’s top-flight, then like Brendan Rodgers leaving for Celtic, it will always happen and they will always feel second-best in that regard.
That may never happen, which is a crying shame because money can at times elevate a team, players, a manager or a league to heights it probably shouldn’t be at.
But the fact of the matter remains is that Gerrard is no longer in the Ibrox dugout and this might now have huge bearings on the title race in Glasgow.
Rangers hold a four-point lead over Celtic, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the momentum shifted during these coming weeks.
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