There was a great deal of frustration amongst the Celtic support following yesterday’s goalless draw with Hibs at Easter Road, and despite the narrative coming from both Ange Postecoglou and Callum McGregor that Celtic played well enough to win the game, many would disagree with that viewpoint.
Of course, the dropped points had little impact in the title standings, as over at Ibrox theRangers looked home and dry with a 2-0 lead before Motherwell pegged them back to grab an unlikely draw. And for former Celtic star Kris Commons, it appears there is far more to worry our title rivals than Celtic have to contend with at present.
Writing in his Daily Mail column today, Commons points to the dreadful form the Ibrox club has exhibited in the Scottish Premiership since returning from the winter break, as having had a six point lead, theRangers are now three points behind, and there seems little sign of form or momentum coming together at Ibrox, as dropped points at home have now been added to an inability to win away from home in 2022.
“Celtic were poor against Hibs and didn’t deserve to win. Ange Postecoglou’s side have got their own issues to deal with after a painful European exit at the hands of Norwegians Bodo/Glimt.
“But, for me, it’s (the)Rangers who are the main talking point just now. For all their progress in Europe, the wheels are falling off domestically. They are spilling points at an alarming rate and this run of form simply is not sustainable if they are to maintain a title challenge against Celtic.
“They have been here before. During Steven Gerrard’s first two seasons, you could almost set your watch by how they would fall apart as soon as we got to the turn of the year. That now looks like it’s happening again. This has to be a huge concern for Van Bronckhorst. When your rivals drop points in an early kick-off, you have to capitalise. No excuses.”
And Commons believes unless the Ibrox club find a domestic groove and quickly, on current form theRangers could be heading into next month’s Glasgow Derby looking at a far greater deficit than the three points they currently have to make up.
“Since the Premiership returned in January, (the)Rangers have now played eight games in the league, winning on only three occasions. They have now dropped 11 points in those eight games, blowing a six-point lead over Celtic at the turn of the year to now trail their rivals by three points.
“Okay, so they got away with it yesterday in the sense that they didn’t lose any more ground. But Van Bronckhorst needs to stop the slide, which won’t be easy given their continued progress in Europe. That could stretch the squad to its limit to keep on going Thursday-Sunday, Thursday-Sunday.
“The blessing for Celtic is that they no longer have that problem. They can devote 100 per cent of their focus and energy into winning a league title from now until the end of the season.
“(the)Rangers will, of course, argue that they will do the same. But the way in which they’ve spilled points after two huge results against Dortmund suggests a problem with their mentality. It’s something they need to address as soon as possible.”
“If they don’t, then Celtic might well be out of sight by the time they visit Ibrox for the next Old Firm (sic) match on 3 April.”
Yesterday was of course disappointing for Celtic, as was the European capitulation to Bodo/Glimt, however from a domestic standpoint Celtic are certainly looking more consistent than theRangers and with another energy sapping two-legged Europa League tie on the horizon for the Ibrox club, and no worries to seek in terms of their domestic away form in particular.
I think it’s safe to say we’d all rather be in our position, even after a poor performance in Edinburgh, than that of theRangers, contending with a lack of form, a build-up of fixtures and a mentality that is once again coming under the microscope. Old habits die hard it appears.
Niall J
