Gordon Strachan: Steven Gerrard's 'paranoia' is a way to endear himself to the Rangers support

Gerrard laid the blame for Rangers' defeat on Sunday at Celtic Park at the feet of referee Willie Collum, citing a foul from Parkhead defender Tom Rogic on Ryan Jack in the build-up to the only goal of the game.

And Strachan joked that it took him a little time in the Celtic job before he displayed the same level of paranoia.

"Steven got caught up in the refereeing decisions in the media interviews after the match, but he was trying to defend his players – the most important thing after an Old Firm defeat," said Strachan.

"I think he was right, that it was a foul, but the referee had nothing to do with the woodwork denying Celtic four times, or Allan McGregor being brilliant.

"It wasn’t the referee stopping the goals going in.

"But I understand it, it’s heat of the battle, the Rangers players defended manfully.

"Looking at his approach since going there, someone must’ve primed Steven for the fact that Rangers have had everyone against them for the last ten years. Or the last 20, or 100, depending on who you speak to.

"Steven’s just in the door. It took me a wee while for the paranoia to set in – it wasn’t as quick as this.

"It’s the way the game gets you in Glasgow. And that’ll endear Gerrard to the supporters, that’s for sure."

There has been some suggestion that the physicality from Rangers and the manner in which they kept the goals tally down has pointed to evidence of the gap being narrowed between the teams.

However, Strachan has pointed to the fact that Celtic dominated the game as proof that there is still significant daylight between where Brendan Rodgers' team are and the work that Gerrard still has to do at Rangers.

"Steven Gerrard knew the scale of what he had to do at Rangers before the Old Firm derby, so defeat to Celtic wouldn’t have been a wake-up call," Strachan told betting site PaddyPower.com

"He’s too intelligent to think Rangers had bridged that huge difference within two months. He knows there’s no magic wand.

"But he would’ve got a feel for where his side are it. Compared to recent Old Firm derbies, the defence looked more solid, the midfield protected them better, and the team generally were more solid. So there are positives.

"But he’ll probably think that he needs to work on his midfield, as the Celtic three ran the game, they were too good for Rangers on the day.

"Because of that, the forwards didn’t get much service, and they couldn’t threaten Celtic – which is the disappointment for Steven.

"Will Rangers get better? Yes. Will they win the title this year? I don’t think so.

"People are now looking at Rangers and saying ‘how will you deal with that, lads?’ It’s up to them now to take up that challenge.

"But there’s still some way between the two teams."

Rodgers went into the game on the back of his first difficult spell at Celtic.

The Hoops boss was frustrated in the transfer market and then endured an acrimonious split with striker Moussa Dembele who agitated his way out of the club to Lyon.

And Strachan believes that the unity displayed by the Parkhead side augers well for the spirit within the camp.

"They’ve had turmoil behind the scenes," he said. "It’s not easy when there are players having their head turned.

"Unless you’ve been there, you’ve no idea what it’s like to deal with a player who comes to training a few days before a big match and affects the dressing room.

"Brendan had to make a split-second decision there, about Dembele, and he’s been vindicated by that performance.

"It says a lot for the team spirit and their single-mindedness, for Celtic to go against a Rangers team that the whole world was telling them was coming for them, to deal with all the off-field stuff, and to perform the way they did was admirable.

"It was a dominant performance from Celtic. Their power and ability in midfield was just too much.

"The Celtic team had so many questions thrown at them and they answered every single one of them."