In the Scottish Premiership, Dan Plumley has emphasized that Rangers and Celtic are under pressure both on and off the field.
After an amazing run, the Bears have now taken the top spot under Philippe Clement, with an automatic Champions League qualifying up for grabs.
The football financial specialist acknowledged that the Rangers team and boardroom are under a lot of pressure to maintain this momentum and win the championship.
He exclusively told Ibrox News, “That pressure at the very top of Scotland is going to be the Rangers and Celtic scenario.”
“I think the financial pressure of that is heightened now that’s an automatic Champions League group stage spot which it hasn’t meant in the past.
“As we’ve said time and time again when you’re looking at Scottish football and the top two in the Scottish Premiership, you are then looking at conversations about the next step being the Champions League and that has implications for budget and for revenue for those clubs moving forward into the next year.
“There is always going to be pressure because it is Rangers and Celtic, from a financial point of view, that is now heightened.
“That is a significant windfall financially, so absolutely there will be pressure linked to that as well as those clubs will be budgeting for either scenario as well so it’s not just pressure on the pitch, it’s pressure in the boardroom as well. It is huge.”
Champions League football can be enormous for any club, not just those in Scotland, but it plays a bigger role now because the TV deal and other income are considerably smaller. John Bennett is under extreme pressure from Rangers at Ibrox.
Getting first place would be crucial for Rangers to avoid having to reallocate funds after they were forced to do so after failing to go past the knockout stages last summer.
In other Rangers news, three players could be shown the exit door this summer.
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