KENNY DALGLISH has entered the controversy over a newspaper advertisement claiming Rangers are a new club by insisting: "It's Rangers.

You're still playing Rangers.''

The advert was paid for by Celtic supporters and claimed Sunday's League Cup semi-final would be "the first meeting between Celtic and the new Rangers club''.

Asked if Rangers were the same club, Dalglish, who played for and managed Celtic, said: "Rangers is an iconic name of Scottish football, as is Celtic."

On the advert, he said: "If people want to do that, you'd need to ask them. It's like asking me why a psychopath does what he does.

"I don't know. I wouldn't have an answer for what they've done. I never saw it."

He said of the Ibrox club: "It's Rangers. If you're a Celtic fan, it's still Rangers isn't it. It doesn't matter that Rangers have been through the mire for three years.

"You're still playing Rangers. You can't take that away."

The advert has produced a storm of media comment since Sunday with Alex Rae, the former Rangers player it was "provoking things" before Sunday's match.

Dalglish, who played for Celtic for six years before leaving for Liverpool in 1977, said Celtic fans had waited three years for an Old Firm game, adding of the fixture: "Why would it mean any less? By the way, it won't be devalued either. In years to come, the League Cup semi-final, 2015, Celtic beat Rangers or Rangers beat Celtic, it won't say : 'By the way, Rangers struggled for three years and they were in the Championship'. It will still say the score."

He said the absence of the match had damaged Scottish football, adding: "Internationally you just have to look at what happened to the television deal to tell you it's been a loss. So it's been a loss financially for a lot of clubs, maybe the only ones who have benefited would have been the Dundee clubs because they fill their ground when they've got the derby.

"For everybody else they've suffered financially by Rangers not being there, as well as Rangers suffering financially and I think Scottish football's suffered because the TV deal was more lucrative when they were in the Premiership."

Dalglish, who briefly managed Celtic in 2000, does not believe Ronny Deila would lose his job if Rangers triumphed on Sunday.

"I just don't see if Celtic were to lose the game that it would be the end of his career at Celtic," said Dalglish who was in Glasgow to promote online gambling firm, 666Bet.

'I don't know how they would recover - I'm not a psychic - but I don't see how it would be the end of a manager's career if he goes out of the League Cup."

Mark Hateley, the former Rangers striker, who was also at the event, commented briefly on his relationship with Ally McCoist, the Rangers manager, who is on gardening leave from the club.

There were reports of a fall-out between McCoist and Hateley, who played up front together for Rangers. These emerged after reports claimed the Englishman had canvassed opinions from Rangers players over the McCoist regime.

Hateley said: "I'm not here to answer that one. That was a load of absolute rubbish, that's all I'm going to say on that. I don't know where the story came from but it's absolute rubbish. I've not spoken to him. He tried to call me and that's where we are with it."

He added: "I have no phone numbers and I wouldn't even phone a first-team player. Never have done and never will do."