Rangers have a 23-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership table and need just six more wins to end Celtic’s stranglehold on the league title.
Celtic came into the season with the ambition of winning an unprecedented tenth league title on the trot, but are now staring at the prospect of their most hated rivals ending that dream in the next few weeks.
Neil Lennon recently said that Celtic have struggled due to lack of crowds at Parkhead and McManus conceded that it indeed has had some effect on their performance this season.
However, he believes it would have made no difference in the title race as he insisted that Rangers are by far the better team out of the two and Steven Gerrard is a better manager than Lennon.
McManus said on PLZ Soccer: “Celtic have suffered with not having supporters.
“But in terms of league positions and how far Rangers are ahead, I don’t think it has affected it whatsoever. Rangers are just a better team and they have got the better manager.
“Whether there were 50,000 at Ibrox or 60,000 at Celtic Park is irrelevant to me.
“I understand what Neil Lennon is saying, they have missed that driving them on when games are tight and maybe nicking a goal.
“It affects the opposition as well because they are affected by a big crowd like that and they drop deeper.
“But for me, it doesn’t affect the league positions or the league table.
“I think Rangers would still have been miles ahead of Celtic, whether there were crowds or not.”
If both teams match each other’s results in the league for the next few weeks, Rangers could have the chance to win the league by beating the Bhoys at Celtic Park in March.
