I agree with that 100%. Together as rivals Rangers and Celtic make one another stronger and elevate the standard of Scottish football on the whole. Maybe their hegemony over the SPFL makes that particular competition less competitive as every club below them in the table are unable to compete for the title but it definitely increases the money available to smaller clubs in the division, particularly when one or both of them get into the CL proper and UEFA make so-called solidarity payments to SPFL clubs.
Nine Scottish Premiership clubs, plus Ross County and Partick Thistle, benefit from Celtic reaching last year's Champions League group stage.
www.bbc.co.uk
Perhaps Lawwell was covering his back in case Rangers were unable to climb back up from the 3rd division or it took them a lot longer than expected. Disingenuous salesman patter to keep the 50k+ fans turning up at Parkhead and buying merchandise from the store.