Ex-Rangers star 'would love a go' at Hearts player he admires after Ibrox show left him fuming

Hearts travelled to Govan on September 13 and won 2-0 to continue their own excellent start to the season. They have since won again, 3-0 against Falkirk, and sit two points clear of defending champions Celtic at the top of the Premiership and nine in front of Rangers, who are languishing in eighth after six rounds of fixtures.

Thomson, who played for Rangers between 2007 and 2010, was galled by his ex-team’s display in that match and said that the Hearts players clearly fancied themselves at Ibrox - something he feels should not be happening.

“I watched Hearts warm up before the game recently and could tell straight away how much they fancied themselves,” said Thomson. “I watched them against Hearts and couldn’t believe how poor they were.

“I’d heard the manager speak about how the window was shut, the new signings had come in, they’d had more time on the grass, there was a new energy about them in training. Then I saw them and thought ‘wow’ - I couldn’t believe it.

“I’ve watched Cammy Devlin for the last five years and would have loved a go at him, but then I see him bossing a game at Ibrox. And I love Cammy Devlin as a player, by the way, he’s a brilliant player for Hearts but he shouldn’t be crunching into tackles after 88 minutes at Ibrox winning 2-0. But they did.

“Cammy Devlin went into that game thinking he was going to like it - and he shouldn’t be.”

Rangers have to find a way to win matches

Thomson went on to question Rangers’ winning mentality and said that their Old Firm rivals Celtic have shown in the past that they can grind out victories when not at the best.

“You can play poorly at the Old Firm but you still have to win,” continued Thomson. “We have seen Celtic play poorly but still find a way to win games.

“The only way to change narratives is winning games but have we seen enough from Rangers to suggest they can do that over a long period of time?

“The only good thing is it doesn’t look like Celtic are at their brilliant best either because if they’d started with a clean slate the league would have been over.

“You’d expect Hearts to slip up more than Celtic, but I don’t think either Old Firm teams look capable of winning 15 or 20 games on the bounce right now.”