As the fallout over Celtic’s cup exit to Kilmarnock continues, attention is already starting to turn to the first Glasgow Derby match of the season.
Celtic are set to face Rangers at Ibrox on the 3rd of September and already the fixture has taken great prominence this early in the season.
Rangers lost their opening SPFL match to Kilmarnock which gave Celtic an early boost but now with Brendan Rodgers’ side going out of the league cup, on top of such a poor performance, former Celtic striker, Chris Sutton, believes that if that current level of performance continues, the Ibrox fixture could become a problem for the Hoops.
Sutton said [It’s All Kicking Off podcast], “I think most of the Celtic support thought Brendan was the right man to come back, in terms of coaching credentials, the best man for the job.
“But what we do know north of the border is the climate can change very, very quickly. And now I think you may have seen this stuff online about how Celtic played and a lot of supporters are unhappy about the way that they played.
“They didn’t create opportunities, and it will become a problem. They play Rangers in a couple of weeks, which now turns into an enormous game, and Michael Beale hasn’t got off to a flyer himself. So I mean, it’s an interesting time.”
And Sutton is correct. The new style of play that Brendan Rodgers is applying at the club is taking a bit of time to bed in with the players. It did look good in preseason, but with the current injury crisis at the club, it seems that it could take a little bit longer for the players to adjust.
But the lack of chances that were created by Celtic is also a concern. For the past two seasons, we have been used to seeing the team carve out multiple goal-scoring opportunities. Even against the best teams in Europe we still managed to break down their defence.
On Sunday, there were eight, with only three of those on target. [Sky Sports]
It’s unusual, to say the least but it’s a problem that needs fixing before it becomes a trend. Look, I’m a realist. It’s still very early in the season and too soon to be hitting the panic button. But as I’ve discussed on 67 Hail Hail before, Celtic are on a run of nine difficult fixtures where six of those are away from home.
We’ve stumbled at the first hurdle and with visits to Rangers, Livingston, Hearts and Hibs still to come, we can’t afford to let that stumble become a fully-fledged fall.
In other news, How Celtic’s defence is shaping up for Ibrox trip after latest injury update
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