David Weir admits Rangers got carried away by Celtic win and are still catching up

PATIENCE is a scarce commodity in Scottish football.

If he could, Davie Weir would love to acquire some and spread it around the Rangers support.

The Ibrox assistant manager knows the club inside out. He is a former player and makes no secret of the fact that he’s also a fan.

There’s always been pressure on the men who manage Old Firm clubs, but Weir believes it has been cranked up significantly since he retired from playing four years ago.

The challenge, he reckons, is not to be deflected from the long-term plan that manager Mark Warburton is following.

He would never regret a victory in an Old Firm game, but admits that last season’s victory over Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final maybe created a false sense of optimism.

Weir said: “Maybe we all got carried away by winning that game and thinking we could challenge and compete.

“I think we are challenging, but the reality is that, when you look at where the clubs have been in the last three, four, five years, there is going to be gap.

“Look at Celtic’s team. How many internationalists have they got?

“If they have Forrest and Sinclair out, they bring in Roberts and Griffiths. They are top players on a lot of money.

“There is a challenge for us to bridge that gap and it doesn’t happen overnight.

“Celtic have signed Scott Sinclair, Kolo Toure and Moussa Dembele.

“They are international players on international wages.

“They have a more-experienced manager, and they have paid for him as well.

“They have seen there’s a challenge and have spent money to increase their strength, so fair play to them.

“I’m not moaning. We are trying to look at it logically. Even when I take my hat and my scarf off, we still want to win. But I think finishing second would be a good, solid season.

“Any fan I meet is very understanding of that and very realistic.

“But, of course, when you’re drawing at home to Hamilton or Ross County on a Saturday afternoon, then it doesn’t seem a logical argument.

“We expect to win these games. We’re used to winning these games.

“When it’s not happening, you’ve got to hold your hands up.

“That’s why Rangers are different.”

Weir says the pressure has been cranked up another level since he hung up his boots.

He is irritated to hear recurring talk about Mark Warburton only having two games to save his job.

The former defender is adamant the Englishman is the perfect manager to take Rangers forward.

He went on: “We all talk about social media, instant impact and the highs and lows. It is extreme now.

“That was shown recently within the space of a week.

“After the Hearts game at Tynecastle recently, it was fascinating. We lost 2-0 and got panned.

“When we beat them 2-0 at Ibrox last Saturday, it was regarded as being normal.

“We win two games and all of a sudden managers and players go from being nowhere near it to being fantastic.

“Everything is temporary now, everything is a quick fix. You are judged very quickly.

“After 10 games, people decide that performances are ‘not good enough for Rangers and never will be’.

“I have been here when international players have come in, struggled and couldn’t do it after a longer period of time.

“When I arrived as a player, I had maybe 50 caps and I was 37.

“Now you’re asking lads who are 22 or 23 and coming from MK Dons or Wigan to play for Rangers with the same expectation. It’s a really difficult ask.

“Very quickly you can be reactionary and bow to pressure.

“It’s easy to go for short-termism, and forget what you’re doing in the first place.

“That’s what Mark Warburton is very good at – being very structured in regards to what he thinks is right and what the key things are.

“He implements them every day.”