Steven Gerrard has warned the Rangers board they’ll have to back him with serious cash to compete with Celtic next season.
The Ibrox gaffer admits it’s difficult to compete with their Old Firm rivals who he claims have DOUBLE his budget for players.
And with his side trailing the Hoops by 10 points going into today’s derby at Parkhead, Gerrard insists the club must spend to close the gap.
The Rangers boss said: “Listen, Celtic have won the last seven trophies on offer. They’ve got good players.
“Celtic’s budget is double, or more, my budget.
“I was never going to get carried away after we beat them in December. I never thought we’re better than Celtic because we took three points off them.
“That would have been stupid. If I thought that, I’d have been leaving myself wide open to criticism.
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“We’ve got tons and tons of work to do here to get to where we want to be. Forget competing with anyone, we’ve got tons of work to do.
“We need to be better personnel-wise in certain areas. We need more, better options.
“I know exactly where we are and where we need to get to.
“No-one I know, players or staff, think we are anything other than a team in progress that needs a lot of hard work.
“How do we bridge the budget gap? We’re going to need financial support, that’s the reality.
“We’ve built a decent base since we came in, in terms of the changes we’ve made at the training ground, Ibrox and to the team.
“We’re doing everything we can to improve things.
“There are a lot of players out there who are capable, and available.
“Sometimes it’s hard to do it on a free or a loan. But somewhere along the line you need to add icing to the cake and that costs money.”
