Rangers assistant boss Gary McAllister has warned Europe's breakaway clubs that their Super League scheme could backfire by transforming glamour ties into mundane match-ups.
Twelve of the continents biggest powers – including McAllister's former side Liverpool – have joined forces to announce their intention to form a new closed-shop competition that threatens a bleak future for the rest of Europe's clubs.
Rangers – who are looking forward to their first Champions League campaign in a decade next season – and Old Firm foes Celtic will be among those left behind if England's big six plus top clubs from Spain and Italy are allowed to forge ahead on their own.
McAllister admits he is "a little bit" disappointed in his former side, fearing the Anfield support have been overlooked by the Reds' American owners.
And he issued a stark warning to the rebels, claiming potential showdowns with heavyweight clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona would soon lose their sparkle if they became regular occurrences.
"I think if it did happen these glamour ties would happen too often and the glamour and the pizazz would disappear quite quickly," said McAllister, a UEFA Cup winner with Liverpool back in 2001. "I'm just not a fan of it.
"It's been touted for quite a few years now and it's now got to the most serious point ever. But I've just never thought it would work.
"Repeating these games would take away the whole prestige of the game.
"The thing that I would say is that instantly I'm against it.
"My support would be with the 14 other clubs in the Premier League and I'd also go with UEFA's stance on it too."
European Super League : a statement. Link: https://t.co/y6XNAFRmaF@LiverpoolDSA @LFC_LGBT @LFCWSC @SpionKop1906 @LFCSupCom pic.twitter.com/VyK9gu2dVN — Spirit of Shankly (@spiritofshankly) April 19, 2021
Furious Liverpool fans have announced they are removing flags from the Kop in protest against their club's decision to join the Super League.
Asked if he was disappointed in Liverpool's decision to join with Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, plus LaLiga giants Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid and Serie A big guns AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus in forming the breakaway tournament, McAllister said: "A little bit.
"I'm very much a traditionalist in terms of football. I like the history, I like the teams have been built. Bill Shankly took it when Anfield was a mess and now you can see the way that club has grown.
"But for me there should always be a connect from the manager to the players and most importantly to the fans.
"At this moment in time there is a barrier there. There is a dis-connect.
"I'm a traditionalist – although I do like change if it's progressive and it works – but this is just a move too far for me.
"Football is an elite sport with elite people in it, but it is a game of the fans. You look at the backlash. There's not many supporters of it at all and I understand that."
McAllister has worked with Steven Gerrard to restore Rangers' standing on the continent since taking over at Ibrox in 2018.
They inherited a team who had been humiliated by Progres Neiderkorn a year earlier and have now transformed it into one which has twice battled through to the Europa League's last 16.
Now they have ambitions of taking their place among the big boys in the Champions League next term, having being crowned Scottish champions, and McAllister believes that is the right and proper route to ensure wealth continues to trickle down through the game.
He said: "Generating money is a big part of professional football and we're striving hard to do well in Europe.
"I think we've done that and that's enhanced the coffers here.
"During those decent runs in Europe, our coefficient has gone up and that has also helped other teams in Scotland.
"We're proud of being champions of Scotland and we want to continue doing well in European competition. By doing that, we do help other teams in our league so that's very much where we are on that."
