Graeme Souness has urged Rangers to keep the 'brutal' spotlight on Celtic as the Premiership title race heats up.
The former Rangers player and manager was delighted to see his old side lift the Viaplay Cup yesterday afternoon following a 1-0 win over Aberdeen.
Philippe Clement has only been in the post since October, so the Belgian has ticked off an early achievement in his tenure by lifting the first available silverware of the 2023/24 campaign.
In turn, Celtic's early season form has tailed off after two successive league defeats at the hands of Kilmarnock and Hearts. Those results have blown the title race wide open, with Rangers only five points behind their arch-rivals but with two games in hand.
Souness has pointed to the unforgiving nature of being based in the west of Scotland for Brendan Rodgers, given his team are currently top of the table heading into Christmas.
He told talkSPORT: “Does that not tell you everything about the west of Scotland? They’ve won 11 leagues out of the last 12 years and they’re sitting top of the league at Christmas time.
"It tells you everything you need to know. You want the spotlight on the other team, not you. Because it can be brutal.”
On Clement, he added: “You hear it trotted out all the time ‘he plays the game the right way’ but what he’s realised is that you have to get best out of everyone you’re working with and he's doing that. He mixes it up. It’s not always rolled out from the back and tippy-tappy stuff on your own 18-yard line. You go long and involve the two big strikers.
"I’m confident he’s going to do really well at Rangers. He’ll need some help and they still need to get a couple of players in so hopefully the board can help him with that but they’re on the right road with this guy.
“I was part of the interviewing process and whenever I look at a manager I put myself in the dressing room when I listen to them talking and ask myself if I would want to listen to them. Clement does that, he’s got presence.
"He’s a big guy and speaks English beautifully with a French accent. People will listen to him. It wasn’t a great game but we got the job done and nobody will remember it was a miserable game. The name is on the trophy again.”
