Former Celtic player Davie Provan has declared the Scottish Premiership title race over, feeling that Steven Gerrard’s Rangers are no longer a threat to the Hoops, writing in his Scottish Sun column.
The Sky Sports pundit feels the points lead already amassed by the Neil Lennon’s team, plus their relentless nature will see them over the line even if both remaining derbies in Glasgow are lost.
He reckons anyone still talking up Rangers’ chances are wrong to do so, despite a dozen league games being left in 2019/20.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, he said: “Lennon should take the credit for that. The change of shape that allowed him to go with two strikers proved a game-changer.
“Despite a board who wouldn’t give him a player who’d improve his team in the transfer window, he’s managed his dressing room brilliantly. When it came to the crunch, Lennon stepped up a gear.
“For Celtic, Rangers are no longer a danger. The enemy now is complacency. And you can bet he’ll be kicking ass for as long as it takes to get his team over the line.
“The question now for Gerrard is whether he wants to go again. Does he want to be in the Ibrox dugout when Celtic are going for ten in a row? Or would a more sedate job down south preserve his sanity?”
Lennon won’t be celebrating yet
The word Provan uses to suggest there is a danger to Celtic is ‘complacency’. It’s a fair point to make. If the Hoops even take their foot off the gas for a moment, a bad result will be just around the corner.
Luckily everything we know about Lennon and this Celtic team suggests that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. With captain Scott Brown installed and eight successive league titles in the bag, I don’t think anyone can question this side’s mentality.
That’s not to say there won’t be dropped points between now and May, that’s almost an inevitability. However, Lennon will no doubt have his team motivated all the way until we’re over the line regardless.
Hopefully with a win at Pittodrie today we can send out another statement that in any venue in Scotland we’re the team to bat.
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