Rangers to refuse to give Old Firm guard of honour after Celtic secure title

Rangers will not give Celtic a guard of honour before Sunday's Old Firm match.

Sportsmail understands the Ibrox club have no plans to applaud their rivals onto the pitch in recognition of them winning an eighth successive title.

It has become customary - although not obligatory - for the champions to receive the tribute from their next league opponents but that will not be happening in the heated derby atmosphere this weekend.

Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd believes, however, that his old club should be forming a guard of honour, insisting it would reflect well upon them.

'I think it would be the right thing to do,' said the Kilmarnock forward. 'I think Rangers would make a statement about what type of club they are if they do it.

'Over the years, it has always been the case that Rangers have held themselves in high regard and rightly so, because of the way they have conducted themselves.

'It would be the right thing to do and, for me, I think they should.

'At the end of the day, they might be your rivals but they have won the league. Pay them the respect they deserve.' Many Ibrox fans would be unhappy at the idea but Boyd believes Rangers should still approve it.

'I get the view of the fans,' added Boyd. 'I get people asking why you would want to clap your rivals onto the pitch.

'But be the bigger man, as such, and do what's right. That would be to give Celtic a guard of honour on the pitch. They have won the league, they are the champions so, for me, why would you not?

'I understand fans might be frustrated but it's not the end of the world if you clap someone going onto a pitch.'

Rangers will go into the final Old Firm meeting of the season without first-choice goalkeeper Allan McGregor following his dismissal for kicking out at Hibs striker Mark McNulty.

That was the club's 12th red card of the season across all competitions, with an exasperated Gerrard admitting he was 'open to advice' about how to resolve their disciplinary issues.

'Steven Gerrard needs to sort it, it is not a case of having a discussion to see what is going on,' insisted Boyd. 'He needs to sort it. He needs to show he is that boss.

'Is it maybe the rules nowadays? If you go back, to a Graeme Souness or a Walter Smith, would it have happened under them? No.

'You would have had players sent off, understandably. But I don't think the sendings off that have happened this year would have happened under them. It is not just at Rangers, I see a lot of players elsewhere pushing the boundaries of managers because the rules have changed and the dynamics of football clubs have changed.

'If you fine players two weeks wages, you have got HR. There are different things that players know are there. We are sitting coming up with excuses, but there are none. You can't do what he (McGregor) did, it is that simple.'

Boyd was a team-mate of McGregor during the goalkeeper's first spell at Ibrox but insists he is baffled by the level of anger that seem to have affected him this season.

'When you look at Allan first time to what he is now, he is a winner, I get that,' said Boyd. 'He wants the Rangers fans to understand that he is a Rangers man and that he cares about the whole thing.

'I think his performances, his saves show that he cares and that he wants to win.

'There is an angry side to him this year and I don't understand why. It is disappointing to see because the level he has been playing at has been unbelievable, the best goalkeeper in the country by a mile.

'But he is screaming at defenders, coming charging out of his goal. And then there are the incidents he has been involved in - the Kris Ajer one, the one at Motherwell. I don't get what is going through his head sometimes.'

*Kris Boyd was speaking at The Kris Boyd Charity Golf Day at Trump Turnberry. The Boyd Charity raises funds and awareness for Mental Health.