Dunfermline boss Jim Jefferies reckons Rangers will not be able to win next year’s Championship at a canter, despite winning back-to-back promotions by some distance in the last two seasons.
Rangers sealed the League One championship last midweek with eight games to spare and went on to defeat the Pars 2-0 in the weekend’s clash between the two teams at Ibrox.
But while Jefferies has already congratulated the Glasgow outfit on their achievement, the Pars boss believes the 2014/15 Championship could be one of the most competitive in years and insists Rangers boss Ally McCoist will need to strengthen his squad again in the summer to cope.
“They will not win the league with eight games to spare next season I wouldn’t think,” he told Courier Sport.
“Hearts will get themselves sorted out and they are some decent sides who will compete very well against them, but it depends what players they bring in.
“They might be a totally different team next season there are a lot of players in there at the moment who will do well in the Championship, maybe them all.
“But I’m sure Ally has got names ready once he gets to know what’s happening. That will be the biggest frustration for him, but it’s about winning football matches.
“He’s set out to win the league and he’s done it, so he should be getting a bit of praise for that and a bit of credit.
“It sometimes doesn’t matter when you are at Rangers because as I’ve said before you can play a lot better football but if you are not winning matches you’ll get stick anyway.
“At the end of the day nobody will bother about it in two or three months’ time. They will just look forward to being in the Championship and they deserve to be there.”
Jefferies will be hoping his side will join Rangers in the Championship next season and believes Scottish football will be better off if and when Rangers get back into the top flight.
“You need a strong Rangers, there’s no doubt about it,” he conceded.
“You just need to look at what’s happening higher up in the leagues with no challenge to Celtic, and even Celtic have come out and said they relish a strong Rangers because it makes it good for Scottish football.
“Ally knew he had to strengthen last season and I’m sure next year he’ll be looking around to strengthen even more, and they will have the resources to do that when they get themselves sorted out if they get themselves sorted out.”