Gareth McAuley blasts Celtic’s ‘tainted and hollow’ title as former Rangers defender rips into Hoops stars

Former Rangers star Gareth McAuley has launched a staggering attack on Celtic’s Nine in a Row heroes. 

The ex-Ibrox defender says he feels sorry for the champions because their triumph is “tainted and hollow” and claimed boss Neil Lennon has only celebrated the feat to wind people up.

McAuley also insisted the current Celtic stars cannot be compared to the two previous squads at Parkhead and Ibrox who reached their respective landmarks in 1974 and 1997.

The Northern Irishman said: “I actually feel sorry for the Celtic players. They didn’t win the title on the pitch, they were handed it.

“They have officially been crowned champions, their ninth success in a row, but this triumph will always be tainted and hollow.

“All their hard work, dedication and gutsy performances when they grinded out results will be forgotten. In the record books there will always be an asterisk beside this season’s Championship.

“I know Neil Lennon was on television saying that this title win was the greatest one under his management, but that was all for show and to wind up the Rangers fans watching at home.

(Image: SNS Group)

“Deep down it will rankle him that his team weren’t able to secure the title on the pitch.

“Of course, it wasn’t their fault. The Covid-19 pandemic sadly intervened.

“But, as a result, history will not look too kindly on this Celtic nine-in-a-row team and that will hurt the current crop of players.

“They’ll never be revered in the same light as the great Celtic sides that won nine-in-a row between 1966 and 1974, or the Rangers teams between 1989 and 1997.

“Those players are Old Firm royalty. They won Championships after titanic and terrific battles against top sides.

“Yet, the Celtic sides of the last nine years, while successful, will be remembered for winning titles when Rangers weren’t in the league and then being handed the title.

“That must be so frustrating for players who thrive on competition. I say this as a former professional footballer and a competitor, not as a former Rangers player.

“I would feel exactly the same way if it were the blue half of Glasgow in this position.

“I certainly wouldn’t be celebrating because, as a professional sportsperson, you crave competition, the thrill of the win after a hard-fought battle and knowing you have given everything possible to beat your opponent on a level playing field.

“Scott Brown is a great player in Scottish football and I know he would love to be regarded in the same way as the nine-in-a row Celtic players of the past, but that’s not going to happen.

“He’ll be held in high esteem, but not on the same level as a Bobby Lennox or Stevie Chalmers.

“If a season cannot be finished on the pitch, then for the integrity of the league, it should be voided.”

Speaking in the Sunday Life newspaper, McAuley also took a bat to the SPFL over their treatment of Hearts and continued: “There were 24 points left to play for. I’m convinced they would have come on strong in the closing stages and avoided the trap door.

“If we take the SPFL’s logic, Leicester City would never have won the Premier League.

“A year before they were crowned champions, Leicester were bottom of the league and in serious danger of going down. But they rallied hard in the remaining weeks of the season and avoided the drop. The next year they were champions.

“But if a pandemic had struck in 2015, going by Scottish rules, Leicester would have been relegated and there would have been no Championship the following year.

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“Championship success, relegation and promotion cannot be decided in a boardroom. Otherwise you are questioning sporting integrity and it is horrible.

“Hearts should not have to go to court over a football decision. It’s a shambles and really sums up Scottish football recently. The washing of dirty linen in public was particularly unedifying.

“The biggest problem I can see is that important decisions are being made by people who have never really been involved in the game from a playing point of view.”