It’s just over three years since Brian Rice said the gap between the Old Firm and the rest of the top flight was as big as he’d seen in 40 years in football.
The then Hamilton Accies boss had watched his side thumped 5-0 by Rangers at Ibrox and was licking his wounds when he said: “Celtic and Rangers are on a different planet to anyone else in this division. The gap for me, between Celtic, Rangers and the rest, is as big as I’ve ever seen in my 40-odd years in Scottish football.”
Little more than one year on from that mauling in October 2019 his point was underlined when the Lanarkshire side were on the receiving end of an 8-0 hammering by Steven Gerrard’s Light Blues on their return to Govan. Rangers went on to romp the title that season by 25 points from Celtic. But Hibs were ‘just’ 14 points behind in third.
