STUART McCALL, the Rangers nine-in-a-row star, has told his old club that unless they find extra money from somewhere then Celtic are heading for a record-breaking ten consecutive league titles.

The Bradford City manager, and Scotland coach, didn’t quite manage to stop a swear word slipping from his mouth as he pondered the above scenario, which many would suggest would be an easier task than Dave King or anyone else being persuaded to produced one of those infamous fictional war chests to will help bridge the financial gap across the city.

McCall was at Ibrox when, as Celtic will do in a matter of months, that team got to six. It was then, for good or bad, when everyone connected to Rangers started to focus on nine and maybe even the magic number of ten.

Tommy Burns’s Celtic eventually provided some competition but it was Wim Jansen and his team which prevented history being made in 1998. Before that, Aberdeen put up a challenge for a few seasons, as did Hearts and even Motherwell made a stand before the class available to Walter Smith made the difference.

During this stretch from 1989 to 1997, the feeling was that only Celtic would be able to stop Rangers if they could ever get themselves sorted out. With the best will in the world, Aberdeen don’t have the strength these days and so it’s a complete role-reversal.

The big question is: when will Rangers ever sort themselves out?

“Stopping nine and ten in a row has got to be the target,” said McCall. “It’s got to be. Because that’s what football is about up here, that rivalry, so it has to be the aim for Rangers.

“We can talk about youth structures and progression, which you’ve got to do. But, if Rangers do happen to stop Celtic before they get nine or ten, there will have to be a huge financial input. That’s obvious.”

What is also obvious is that for McCall, and one would imagine all his former team-mates, never believed Celtic would find themselves in a situation, as they do today, when a tenth league championship in a row is more like than unlikely.

“It’s a massive worry, yeah! No, I don’t think about it all … just every waking minute of my life,” McCall was honest enough to admit. “Seriously, you’re getting to the stage where it will be talked about.

“Going back to when we did nine-in-a-row, when we got to five and six, the Rangers fans started singing songs – just like Celtic fans are singing them now - about nine and even ten. Each season, it will build and build. And everyone will be aware of it.

“I’m just hoping they’ve got a transfer war chest somewhere, building and building – so they can go and buy Messi and Ronaldo to stop Celtic! No, all kidding aside, it’s natural if you are a Rangers-minded person that you should fear Celtic getting there.

“And, if you are a Celtic-minded person, that’s the dream for you, isn’t it? To go and smash it.”

McCall was one who had a hunch the signing of Joey Barton would work. out He never thought Rangers would win the league “second is not good enough but, in the grand scheme of things, that’s what they should be getting” but he felt the club he managed for a short period two years ago would be better placed.

Barton was a disaster but the man who was slightly more successful as a Rangers midfield terror would not blame this misjudgement on Rangers being 19 points behind. Rather, he puts that down to the big decision which had been made at Celtic Park around about the same time.

“I look back to the summer and there wasn’t much of a difference between Rangers announcing Joe Barton and Brendan Rodgers being appointed at Celtic,” said McCall. “The two sort of happened at the same time.

“I remember at the time of Barton signing thinking ‘that a big statement from Rangers’. But I have to say that to bring someone such as Brendan in was a massive coup for Celtic. As the season progresses, the Barton thing didn’t work out and Brendan worked out magnificently, I am looking at Celtic and they have only brought in a couple of players.

“Kolo Toure was signed, and he hasn’t played so much, there is Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair, but it was more or less the same squad which the previous season were perceived to be not good. That they didn’t do so well.

“The difference with Brendan is what he has got out the team. You only have to look at Scott Brown and Stuart Armstrong. Celtic have absolutely stormed it and done far better than anyone would have thought in terms of wins; hence the gap is as big as it is. Rangers have had too many draws.

“But I think the blow to Rangers, and there’s no doubt it was a blow, was when Celtic managed to go out and get the manager they have at the moment."

And the blows have kept reigning down. McCall is right. Investment is the only chance Rangers have and that's not coming, at least not from King.

All he and the Rangers heroes old old can do is watch from a distance and hope for a miracle.

Stuart McCall was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.