Kenny Dalglish: Graeme Murty has made a big difference at Rangers – but he hasn’t found a Scott Brown

WE are still a week away from the next Old Firm game.

But the level of anticipation for what is always a fantastic fixture is as high as I can remember for a number of years.

Celtic, as league leaders and Champions for the past six years, will go into the game, I would imagine, as the bookies’ favourites.

But it’s a tight call.

I don’t think it will be like some of the recent clashes between the teams when the Hoops have been fancied to win by three or four goals.

Indeed, they beat Rangers 5-1 on two occasions last season.

I can’t see that being the case next Sunday at Ibrox.

One of the reasons for that is Graeme Murty.

He has been in charge for two Old Firm games, both have been played at Parkhead and both ended in draws, 1-1 and 0-0.

He appears to really have something going on at Rangers, and the proof is in the results.

The other night at St Johnstone, they played very well for an hour and fully deserved their 4-1 victory.

They are scoring freely, but they do need to tighten up.

The weekend before, they scored five at Hamilton Accies. But their defence was a bit leaky and they also conceded three goals.

However, Graeme is taking them in the right direction, and has done a more-than-favourable job since he was given the post back in December.

Indeed, if all points were calculated from the day he took over at Ibrox, Rangers would be two points ahead of Celtic. That’s interesting.

Compared to five or six months ago under Pedro Caixinha, the Rangers squad looks stronger, better and happier.

The players would appear to like Murty. However, it’s also about how you define the word “like” in this situation.

Do they like him because they are winning?

Do they like him because they are getting a game under him?

Do they like him because he has created a better working environment?

Do they like him because he keeps those players not starting every week happy and motivated?

Only the players can give a truly accurate reflection on why things have changed so much.

But it is important because a manager is only as good as the support he gets from the squad he works with.

Maybe Murty has changed the whole outlook of the squad from what it was a few months ago, or maybe the players have got a grip of themselves and decided to improve.

It’s also been a positive for Murty that he had support from the boardroom during the January transfer window.

They recruited well and the likes of Jamie Murphy, Sean Goss, Russell Martin and Greg Docherty already look to be very assured additions to the set-up.

The Rangers hierarchy also decided not to sell Alfredo Morelos, and it’s another positive to have that backing when the manager clearly wanted to keep the player.

So the focus will be well and truly on them next Sunday to see just how close they now are to Celtic.

There is no doubt the gap is not as wide was it was six months or a year ago – but I do believe that Brendan Rodgers and his players are still a distance ahead.

I have a feeling Celtic will welcome this chase from Rangers, and will want to show exactly what they are made of.

They are still undisputed champions and, as yet, their Old Firm rivals haven’t found a player capable of taking away the dominance Scott Brown has enjoyed in the engine room in recent years.

However, a win for Rangers next weekend would have us all sitting up and taking notice.

It would see the gap between the sides reduced to three points, and you would then have to declare that a title race is genuinely on.

That can only be good for Scottish football, as we all want it to be as competitive and as thrilling as possible.

It’s not been as close as this for a number of years.

Let’s face it, when Rangers were out of the league and there were no Old Firm games, Scottish football was a wee bit lost.

Aberdeen kept up a challenge to Celtic to a certain degree, but they were never going to go all the way.

Now we have Rangers heading in the right direction, a very good and consistent Aberdeen team, and progress is being made by Hibs, Hearts and Kilmarnock.

Any neutral looking at the SPFL Premiership would have to say it’s looking a strong and vibrant product.

It’s much healthier and that can only be advantageous for many, many reasons.

Much of that is down to the quality of managers in the Scottish game.

At the clubs I’ve just mentioned, Derek McInnes has performed very well at Pittodrie for almost five years, and Stevie Clarke has made a serious impact at Rugby Park.

Neil Lennon has been brilliant at the Hibees and the Jambos are looking much better now under Craig Levein. He has made a big difference in the past four or five months.

There’s so much going on right now to feel positive about, and proud of.