Celtic have no chance of winning 10-in-a-row… they’ve only got two just now, insists Rangers chairman Dave King

LIKE a sugar-hungry wasp which refuses to be shooed away, Dave King shows no signs of giving Celtic peace to enjoy the summer.

Having raised the ire of the Hoops with his view that the gap between the Old Firm should have been even greater last season, the Rangers chairman has followed up with another sensational claim.

King insists his club’s greatest rivals haven’t won six titles in a row – just two!

And furthermore, using his assessment of not counting the years when the Light Blues were out of the top flight, King believes Celtic will never achieve the 10-in-a-row so craved by their support.

“The topic comes up a lot,” he said.

“I was asked in the Q&A session in Las Vegas recently (at the North American Rangers Supporters Association convention) if I thought Celtic could get 10 in a row.

“My response is that Celtic have got two-in a row at this point in time. So they need to win another eight to get to 10.

“Do I think there’s any chance of them getting another eight?

“I don’t think there’s any chance of them doing that before us winning another league title.

“Celtic have got six league titles but the concept of nine-in-a-row is a competition between Rangers and Celtic.

“So if Rangers went into the English Premier League, and Celtic stayed behind in Scotland and won 20 league titles, there would be no point in their supporters saying to Rangers fans: ‘We’ve won 20 in a row’.

“It’s irrelevant if Rangers are not there. So it’s a challenge among ourselves.

“The fact is that Rangers being removed from the top league for four years suspended the nine-in-a-row pursuit.

“Celtic have got the titles but they haven’t got nine-in-a-row in competition with Rangers. That only recommenced last season.

“So, as far as Rangers are concerned, Celtic haven’t got six-in-a-row. They’ve got two. And they’ll never get to 10.

“They won’t even get close.”

That King’s claims will be viewed at Celtic Park as the sort of mischievous point-scoring upon which derby rivalries thrive is a certainty.

Of more interest to the South African businessman is the response it will get from the Rangers support.

Among a group increasingly anxious about the prospect of that same 10-in-a-row creeping ever closer, that response is likely to be favourable.

If only because it provides the chance for some amused respite from the crowing from the other side.

And with the revenue streams from replica kit sales re-opened – and Mike Ashley out of the picture – he is keen to tap into the backing from the club’s supporters.

King sees supporters as standing apart from fans.

“There is a difference and again I had a discussion about this when I was out in Las Vegas,” King continued.

“We had 1300 supporters in a room. You know they are all there and it almost awes you when you stand up and talk to them.

“You understand they are all like-minded, and they are all there for the love of the club.

“What I said to them is that with Rangers – particularly in the media – you get the comment that I am away in South Africa and the supporters are complaining I’m not at the games.

“As if Pedro Caixinha should be looking up to me and ask what he should be doing at half-time!

“It was more important to me that I should spend thousands of hours sorting out stuff like the kit deal instead of going to games.

“Flying into London for legal issues, sometimes flying in the morning and out at night to deal with my other business. I was letting my family down.

“The supporters get that. The fans don’t all get that.

“And I made the differential that what I am doing is for the supporters.

“All supporters are fans – but not all fans are supporters.

“You’ve got Rangers fans who will criticise the manager after the first game. They’ll tweet, they’ll blog and they’ll insult.

“They’ll use language that a supporter would never use about their football club.

“I’m in it for the supporters, the 50,000 who turned up to give us the biggest crowd of the day for our first game in the Third Division.

“I’ve had no doubt they are with us, and with me, in what we are doing.”