Doncaster Rovers' ex-Rangers man on the Glasgow 'bubble' as he likens Billy Sharp to 57-cap England man
For us to be nearly into November and not have either Rangers or Celtic atop the Scottish Premiership table is a strange and rare occurrence.
The Old Firm duo are going through lean times of late, with Brendan Rodgers under huge pressure in the green half of Glasgow and newbie Danny Rohl trying to put out fires in the blue side of the city. Remarkably, the two giants are eight and 13 points adrift of leaders Hearts respectively.
The Rangers situation is one that's being watched closely by a few people down at Doncaster Rovers. Manager Grant McCann is a boyhood fan of the Gers whilst James Maxwell, Jordan Gibson and Glenn Middleton all represented Rangers earlier in their respective careers, to differing degrees. Middleton made 15 top flight appearances in his breakthrough campaign at Ibrox in 2018-19 and was quizzed recently on the puzzling situation at his old club.
"There's so much going on there. It's not just as simple as someone walking in and changing it overnight," the winger told the Free Press, prior to the appointment of ex-Sheffield Wednesday boss Rohl.
"There's lots that goes with it at that club and it's so magnified. It's a club that demands winning and hopefully it gets back to that soon. The best way to describe it is that it's in its own bubble. Everyone knows who you are and the standards are so high. As I say, it's a club that only accepts winning, and I'm sure the gaffer here would touch on that and has feelings towards that (being a fan).
"It's such an intense environment and one that I loved being a part of. It taught me so much in terms of how to look after yourself as a player. You were training with such high quality players every day."
Indeed, Middleton says training alongside top internationals has benefitted him plenty as he looks to continue moving forward in his own career. He also likened former England striker Jermain Defoe - who spent three years north of the border - to current teammate and Rovers legend Billy Sharp and believes that the demands placed on players at Rangers is not too different from life in South Yorkshire.
He added: "Steven Gerrard was the manager when I first came into the team there and when I left Giovanni van Bronckhorst was there so I was very lucky to be involved in atmospheres like that and to see how those two worked on a daily basis.
"It might sound weird but I wouldn't say it was too dis-similar in terms of the demands put on you here (at Rovers) in terms of what is asked of you.
"In training at Rangers you'd see players like Jermain Defoe do finishing drills. These are things you don't forget - I've never seen someone strike a ball so quick. But then you come down here and you see Sharpy doing it as well. These are players that played at the top level for a reason. You can't not learn from that environment when you're watching on the training pitch."