Former Rangers player and interim manager Jimmy Nicholl admits he doesn’t want Steven Gerrard’s side to win the league in February

Scottish football has been a source of disappointment and delight for Jimmy Nicholl this season.

Just not for the reasons you might expect.

An effortlessly classy full-back in his playing days, the Northern Ireland assistant-manager contributed to two Rangers title wins, and three League Cup successes, across two spells at Ibrox in the 1980s.

Later, as an entertaining after-dinner speaker, he would joke of having been given the captaincy of the Light Blues by Jock Wallace as a reward for his easy familiarity with the words in certain songs.

So surely his old side’s storming form, which has them near certainties to win the Premiership title for the first time in a decade, would be a reason to celebrate?

If not in a professional capacity – Northern Ireland have a dog in the fight in the shape of Rangers’ 124-times capped midfielder, Steven Davis – then in a personal one?

Nicholl had a brief spell as caretaker boss at Ibrox before Steven Gerrard was appointed in May, 2018.

But even after Gerrard’s men racked up their 26th game undefeated at Easter Road in midweek – 23 of them wins – Nicholl is not much in the mood for popping the Moet.

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“Sorry, but if you are talking about what I want to see as a football fan, it is not one team leading the league by 23 points in January,” said 64-year-old Nicholl.

“If people ask me who I want to win the title, then, yes, I will say Rangers.

“That is not going to be a surprise to anyone, given my background and the fact I played for the club.

“And It is the answer you would have got from me whatever year you asked me the question.

“But I don’t want them winning the title in February, I really don’t.

“I would say the same the other way.

“If you are telling me Celtic are going to win the title then OK, I’d say good luck to them.

“But then my hope would be for a real close-run thing, with Rangers, Aberdeen, Hibs, Hearts or whoever giving them a run for their money.

“For me, one-sided affairs are no use to anyone, bar the people closely connected with the club who is miles in front.

“It is not great for the SPFL, for the reputation of Scottish football or for those who are paying to watch the matches at home on the televisions as part of season-ticket deals.

“This year more than any, with all that is going on in the wider world, you want sport to serve up the best entertainment it possibly can.

“I have had plenty of Rangers fans tell me: ‘Ach no, it is great. The more points we are clear, the better it is’.

“But that has never been it for me.

“Manchester United were my club. I played for them for a long time.

“Yet when I was watching that great FA Cup tie they were involved in last Sunday, I was supporting Liverpool to haul it back to 3-3 to take it to extra time, and then, hopefully, penalties.

“Why? Because I love the drama and the competition. I love games that go right to the wire.”

Nicholl, therefore, should have no complaints about Scotland reaching the Euro Finals with the help of a couple of penalty shoot-outs?

“Yes, I am back living in Scotland now and, with my connections to the country, I was excited for you all about the qualification for the Euros,” he continued.

“That was brilliant for Steve Clarke after the great work he has done, for the players and, most of all, the fans.

“We couldn’t make it through to join you. We lost at home to Slovakia, and that was agony.

“We move on to trying to reach the 2022 World Cup, with the qualifiers starting up again in March.

“I will be watching our players who are with clubs over here, and there is plenty of interest.

“There is Steven Davis, of course, who everyone knows has been a huge player for the country.

“Then you have Ali McCann at St Johnstone. He is one I have always liked and he is improving all the time.

“Matty Kennedy is doing very well at Aberdeen, who also have Niall McGinn, a man with loads of experience for the country.

“And don’t rule out Livingston’s Ciaron Brown. He is doing well, as are Liam Boyce and Michael Smith at Hearts.”

If the one-sided nature of the chase in the Premiership has been an unexpected let down for Nicholl, the action in Scotland’s second tier has delighted him.

The former Raith Rovers boss was thrilled by the Kirkcaldy club’s win over Hearts last weekend and believes the division is now perfectly set up, with Dundee and Dunfermline Athletic also battling for promotion.

“I am reminded of the situation a few years back when Rangers, Hearts and Hibs were all in the Championship together,” he said.

“This was the second tier but it was the one that was grabbing all the attention. Those were the games everyone wanted to watch.

“Hearts are there again and they have the advantage over the others because of the resources available to Robbie Neilson.

“They are at the top but it is really competitive with the others in the mix.”

A title win for Rovers this season would be poignant for the Northern Irishman.

Ronnie Coyle, the larger than life sweeper who won two Championship titles with Nicholl’s Raith in 1992-93 and 1995-95, passed away 10 years ago this spring.

For the previous three years, he had been suffering from leukaemia.

“It is hard to believe it has been so long,” said Coyle’s former boss.

“Ronnie was a great guy, and a big part of everything we achieved together back then.

“I was only 33 when I got the job at Kirkcaldy in 1990, and I knew the likes of Ronnie – who had been at Celtic coming through – and Gordon Dalziel would be sizing me up.

“He was a bit hot-headed, and I remember the directors all assuring me I could never change that about him.

“In no time, we were at the stage where, because of his bad previous record, he was one booking away from a four-match ban.

“I took him aside and said: ‘Right, if you get done for dissent in a game, I am not having you back in the team. If it is a last-ditch tackle you have to make, then fair enough. But if it is a daft one, you are out’.

“He replied: ‘Do you really mean that?’.

“I said: ‘Try me. You are the one that will have to explain to your wife why there is no appearance bonuses or win bonuses coming into the house any more’.

“It worked because he cut the needless stuff right out, and he was brilliant for me.

“People always remember him getting caught trying to dribble past Jurgen Klinsmann when we were away to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup.

“But the only reason Ronnie ever tried that was because he knew he was a good footballer.

“Shortly before he passed away, we had the benefit game for him at Stark’s Park between the Rovers and Celtic teams which played in the 1994 League Cup Final.

“It was great fun – Paul McStay turned things around by scoring to help Celtic to win in a penalty shoot-out!

“Ronnie’s old club winning the Championship again 10 years after his passing? That would be another fine way to honour his memory.”