It’s always interesting to see and hear how those outside of Glasgow, view Celtic and Rangers.
On the face of it, and when you look at the pure hard facts, it has been domination of the highest order from Celtic.
The current champions of Scotland. The most successful club in the country, including 13 out of the last 14 titles.
Rangers have tried to do everything they can to stop the Hoops from putting a cigar in their mouth and lifting trophy after trophy.
Even a tactic of having a dip in Loch Lomond is being used, as the current state of affairs in Glasgow was discussed on BBC Radio 5 Live to interesting effect.
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Celtic have won the Treble the ‘wrong way’ as Rangers continue to falter
Rory Smith was on BBC Radio 5 Live, alongside Celtic fan Shay Given and club legend Chris Sutton, when they discussed Rangers’ current struggles.
New York Times journalist Smith tried to compare the rivalry in Glasgow to other cities across the world and stated, ‘I genuinely can’t think of a parallel, certainly in Western Europe’, before listing clubs in Greece, Argentina and Turkey.
Smith would explain how Rangers are finding it ‘all but impossible’ to succeed, as Celtic just continue to ‘pull forward’ year after year, before also adding that they have won Trebles ‘the wrong way’, in terms of how the fans and the board don’t see eye to eye.
On what the Celtic and Rangers rivalry reminds him of: “The problem that Rangers have got,” said Smith. “And I can’t, I genuinely can’t think of a parallel, certainly in kind of Western Europe.
“It feels almost like kind of those clubs in Buenos Aires, or Brazil or Egypt. Maybe Olympiacos and Panathinaikos are the closest ones. I’m going to stay away from Turkey. I’m trying to think of an example.
“The issue that Rangers have is that there’s such a kind of toxicity around the club now, and actually succeeding is all but impossible. Celtic are much richer, they’re much better organised every year that goes by, Rangers fall a little bit further back, and Celtic pull forward.
“Also, now I think about it, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray (remind me of Celtic and Rangers), because the pressure is so great and the expectations are so high at both clubs, that I’m not sure there is a success that keeps people happy.
“If you look at all those countries, what you end up with is, managers lose two or three games and they are sacked.
“It’s not that bad in Scotland, at the moment. Obviously, Brendan Rodgers has been at Celtic for a long time, but there are murmurings of discontent.
“Celtic are the only club that I can think of recently, who have like won a treble the wrong way. They have this level of domination, but the fans always demand more because it’s so keenly felt, Chris (Sutton), as you always say, it is so kind of front and centre to identity in Glasgow.”
How many Trebles have Celtic won?
At the turn of the century, Celtic had stopped Rangers from winning 10IAR, and then Martin O’Neill would walk through the doors.
This was an era where Rangers were actually competitive; that’s why it’s super impressive that Celtic won the Treble under the stewardship of the legendary Irishman for the first time in over 30 years.
They were hard to come by back then, but it’s so easy now that Celtic have more Trebles than Rangers have titles in the last decade.
- 1966/67
- 1968/69
- 2000/01
- 2016/17
- 2017/18
- 2018/19
- 2019/20
- 2022/23
- ???
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