SIMON JORDAN reckons they’d be Premiership relegation material. Brendan Rodgers says they’d be top four.

Alex McLeish says this season’s Celtic would be somewhere in the middle — but would still struggle against HIS Treble- winning Rangers team.

3 Former Rangers boss gets his hands on the Scottish Cup once again Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

Former Crystal Palace owner Jordan claimed Celtic would last three seasons in the top flight down south — “autumn, winter and spring, before they were relegated”.

Keep up to date with ALL the latest news, transfers and goals from Scottish football plus fixtures, results and live match commentary

But Eck says even a Celtic side carrying all before them in Scotland would be no better than a mid-table team in the English Premiership.

McLeish said: “People down south obviously think the league in Scotland is weak. I saw Simon Jordan having a go at Celtic, saying they’d be fighting relegation in the Premier League.

“Brendan Rodgers says they’d be top four. It’s hard to judge Celtic against Premier League teams but I think they’d be in the lower half of the table.

“They’re a tremendous side in Scotland and Brendan will be looking to make them even stronger. In time, the more success you get, the more finances you get, and you can compete more with the best in England.

“We know Celtic and Rangers would eventually do that if they got there, but it doesn’t look like it’ll happen in my lifetime.

“I read Johan Mjallby’s comments on Tuesday and I’d have to agree with him. Martin O’Neill’s team was full of experienced men.

“I don’t believe this current Celtic team would beat Martin’s team.

“Would they beat my Treble- winning team? Of course not!”

McLeish was quizzed by a three-strong Rangers delegation comprising Stewart Robertson, Graeme Park and Andrew Dickson in London last month — but he hesitates to even describe it as a job interview.

And he says that even if an offer had come from it, he’d have demanded further discussions before agreeing to a return.

3 Rodgers and McLeish span divide Credit: Getty Images

He said: “I didn’t say I’d definitely to take the job if I was offered it. It was more just to get a general feeling about how things were going.

“It was a decision I didn’t need to make anyway because they’d clearly targeted Pedro.

“Obviously, working at Rangers and knowing the ins and outs and understanding the pressure of having to win every single game — I’ve had all that before.

“I’ve done that and had some really great times — as well as one or two when it didn’t go the way I wanted.

“Maybe it’s better for a young, enthusiastic guy to come in and change it without knowing about all the things that go with being the manager of Rangers.

“Pedro’s come in a little bit blind in that respect, although he’s been saying all the right things that the fans want to hear and he’s even got them to play ‘Simply The Best’ over the tannoy at Ibrox again — so he’s clearly done his homework!

“A lot of what he has to do can be down to recruitment and trying to get the right players in at the right time.

“There’s talk at the moment of a sporting director — he’s going to need to have loads of contacts and access to just about everybody in the world within Rangers’ financial means.

“For me going back wasn’t the same situation. I spoke to Walter Smith and he said that although people say not to go back, when he did in 2007 he demanded David Murray gave him money to spend.

“He ended up building a team that won three championships and reached the Uefa Cup final, with signings like Steven Davis, Steven Naismith and Nikica Jelavic.

“It was a great piece of team- building by him — but it’ll take time to catch up with Celtic now and I felt, in my heart, that it wasn’t for me just now.

“I still get texts and e-mails from my pals who are Rangers fans urging me to read this blog and that blog.

“And I thought: ‘Do I really need that at this stage of my life?’ By that I mean the political aspect of it all.

3 Eck with league trophy Credit: PA:Press Association

“But I know that if Pedro wins on Sunday he’ll be a hero. I’ve got all the texts about stopping Celtic’s Treble. And that’s just from me!”

McLeish led Rangers to a Treble in 2003 while Celtic were focused on the push to the Uefa Cup Final in Seville — and he warned Rodgers that even winning the trio of domestic trophies WON’T spare him from criticism from the demanding support.

He recalled: “We won the Treble and that one got thrown at me. Someone — I won’t tell you who — said ‘it was disappointing in Europe’.

“I thought, ‘OK, we’ve just won a Treble against what pundits are calling one of the best Celtic teams since Jock Stein’.

“It was a constant demand every single week, just focusing on getting a win.

“If Celtic played on the Saturday, we’d to win on the Sunday. If we played on the Saturday, they’d to win the next day.”

Alex McLeish was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.

We pay for your stories and videos! Do you have a story or video for The Scottish Sun Online? Email us at scottishsundigital@news.co.uk or call 0141 420 5266