Former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill reckons that the improvement in Rangers over the past year could be good for Celtic.
Neil Lennon’s side won the league by nine points for the second successive year last season and also completed a domestic clean sweep for the third year in a row. However, the Gers improved their points tally by eight points last season and are seen to have improved under Steven Gerrard.
And former Hoops boss Martin O’Neill doesn’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.
What did he say?
He told the Scottish Sun: “You can only beat who is put in front of you and it’s not their (Celtic) responsibility to do anything other than be as successful as they possibly can be.
“But over the last season I did get a sense that Rangers were getting a little bit stronger – and that’s no bad thing.
“If they get a better presence, then I actually think that will help Celtic. It pushes you, it makes you look over your shoulder and keeps you on your toes.”
Fair point?
O’Neill will know about the pressures of the Glasgow derby more than most. He managed Celtic to seven trophies in five seasons at the start of the century. He was in charge at a time when the rivalry was at its peak. Both sides were spending money and could boast some of the finest talent in Europe.
However, time has moved on now and O’Neill seems a little out of touch. When we went a whole league campaign unbeaten a couple of years ago we won the title by 30 points. Rangers finished a whopping 39 points behind us and that didn’t seem to affect our players too much.
The pressure of playing for Celtic has been more than enough for the players in recent years. They’ve won nine trophies on the spin and that’s been down to the pressure from their own camp, not from rival teams. Celtic’s success this coming season will depend entirely on what we do right, nobody else.
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