Kris Commons has had a major change of heart on where the Premiership trophy could end up this season after previously tipping Rangers for the title.
The Ibrox club have suffered an absolute disaster in recent days after the departure of Steven Gerrard to Aston Villa. The former Liverpool man has also taken his backroom staff including number 2 Gary McAllister and first-team coach Michael Beale.
Questions are now being asked about what the future holds for the Ibrox club. Meanwhile, Celtic have continued to power on under Ange Postecoglou as they breathe down Rangers’ neck at the top of the Premiership.
And reflecting on everything that’s happened over the last week, Commons has changed his mind on where he believes the title will end up.
Speaking in his Daily Mail column [print edition, 15/11, page 80], Commons said: “I genuinely believe all bets are off in terms of how the title race will pan out. I said at the start of the season that I believed Rangers would win it again, and I was consistent with that despite the improvements made by Celtic.
“But the landscape has now changed dramatically. The roof hasn’t caved in at Ibrox, but it’s beginning to creak. Gerrard and his entire coaching staff have upped sticks and left. Coming hot on the heels of the club posting an annual loss of £23.5million, suddenly things don’t look so rosy.
“You can’t underestimate just what a loss the likes of Michael Beale will be. Gerrard spoke countless times in the past about how he regards him as an outstanding coach. Will the new manager be able to achieve something similar? Whether it’s Giovanni van Bronckhorst or someone else, there’s no guarantee of immediate success.
“The situations with Connor Goldson, Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos will also be interesting. I don’t see Gerrard coming back for them, but I’m also not sure they will be keen to stick around at Ibrox either.”
Celtic in a strong position as they close in on Rangers
Celtic may have dropped the last points in the title race, but make no mistake, it’s the Hoops who have the momentum. Indeed, Ange Postecoglou’s side are playing in a free-flowing manager that the supporters are getting behind.
We all know how dangerous an animal Celtic can be when everyone is pulling in the same direction. If we can get some solid momentum behind us in the first few weeks after the international break, we’re going to be hard to stop.
Celtic have the fixtures to do it too. In terms of the Premiership, we’ll have home clashes against Aberdeen and Hearts coming up that will likely give us a major morale boost if we get the job done in both. That’s then followed by a trip to Tannadice before games against Motherwell, Ross County, St Mirren, and St Johnstone respectively.
Rangers, meanwhile, have a host of tough away trips coming up. Their new manager will have to negotiate games at Pittodrie, Easter Road, Tynecastle, and Livingston before they travel to Celtic Park on January 2nd.
At the very least, Celtic should be aiming to be within 1 game of our foes. Beating them in the new year will be essential, and the chances are we’ll be in a position to overtake them if we do.
So you can still sense the momentum pendulum is about to swing our way once again. So long as we continue to do our jobs on the pitch, Rangers will undoubtedly suffer the consequences of their manager departing so abruptly.
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