Kris Boyd brings Rangers fans back down to earth with ‘reality’ check about Celtic despite Ibrox win

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That’s a game Celtic fans will want to forget about quickly.

Celtic’s record against Rangers in recent times is pretty strong, but there is nowhere to hide after the latest Glasgow derby showdown.

Even though Brendan Rodgers’ side went to Ibrox with a 14-point lead, Celtic still suffered a 3-0 defeat to Rangers and never really turned up.

You could argue that was perhaps the worst performance any Rodgers team has produced – that’s from his first and second spell.

Understandably so, the Celtic supporters have a right to be angry, annoyed and frustrated because, just like the League Cup final, it was the opposition opening the scoring.

This time, Rangers punished Celtic and secured a rare derby day win, but Kris Boyd was on hand to bring those inside Ibrox down to earth.

Kris Boyd tells Rangers they are still 11 points behind Celtic

You could argue that if Philippe Clement had lost this match, then he would have been booted out of the door because it has been night and day between Celtic and Rangers.

Boyd told his supporters that they may well ‘enjoy’ this victory on Thursday evening, but he sent out a ‘reality’ check about how they are still 11 points behind the champions in the Premiership table, as he told Sky Sports Football (02/01/25 at 5:05 pm).

The former striker was even able to joke about the win by claiming that Rangers performed so well because it’s a Thursday game – when they usually play Europa League matches – and how they are ‘used to it’.

“You can enjoy tonight, but I think the reality will set in that you are still 11 points behind,” said Boyd. “But take nothing away from Rangers. I thought they were excellent to a man.

“It’s a good day for Rangers, but you then think to yourself ‘where has this team been?’. We have seen it in glimpses and, I suppose, it is a Thursday (Europa League games), we are used to it.

“As I said, Rangers can enjoy the performance today. They can enjoy the result, but the reality is that you are still 11 points behind in the league. That is it. Celtic have done their work over a period of time and they are more consistent. Rangers need to get that level of consistency in their play. They showed it in the Scottish Cup final that they can compete with Celtic in a one-off game. They then moved that onto the League Cup final where they had large spells, but Celtic have found a way to win more games. Rangers have played well today. Won the game. 3-0. Should have been a lot more.”

Boyd accuses Brendan Rodgers of taking it ‘easy’ after Celtic lose to Rangers

Rodgers’ record against Rangers is outstanding, even after that loss, he has only been on the losing side on two occasions from 21 matches.

So, in that sense, there isn’t any need to overreact, including the fact that he won the double last season, already has the League Cup in the bag this term and the title is still in Celtic’s hands.

But Boyd added that, before a ball was kicked at Ibrox, he got the sense that Rodgers was perhaps thinking it was going to be ‘easy’ for his team because of the dominance.

“I thought Brendan was a little bit bullish,” added Boyd. “I thought it was going to be easy in his press conference in the build-up. It has maybe come back, you just got a feeling that it meant a lot more to Rangers here today.”