“Celtic have never had any pressure put on them since Brendan Rodgers walked in the door.”
Let’s be honest. How many times have you heard members of the opposite side of the city, or others looking to discredit Rodgers’ achievements, by hearing that phrase?
Lee McCulloch was the latest, but he was hardly the first. He told the Evening Times that “Celtic have been in the driving seat for the last few years, but they haven’t had any pressure applied to them in the run-in.”
Barry Ferguson has hit out with the same kind of rhetoric in the past too. It’s this idea that just because Celtic have been winning the title at a canter (even with Rangers in the league) they haven’t had any pressure.
The truth couldn’t be any different, however. Celtic have consistently had the pressure thrown on them to win the league ever since Rangers got demoted to Division Three.
Not winning any of the titles they did without Rangers being in the league would’ve been a disaster. In every single year, Celtic coped with that pressure admirably and fully deserved to romp from championship to championship.
MORE CELTIC STORIES
And you can’t once tell me that Celtic haven’t been under pressure since Rangers have come back. The closer Celtic have been getting to 10-in-a-row, the more pressure grows on our trophy-laden club.
Foes’ deficiencies aren’t Celtic’s fault
Just because Rangers have barely been able to string form together isn’t Celtic’s fault. And just because they haven’t also doesn’t mean Celtic haven’t been under pressure.
When Mark Warburton arrived at Ibrox and took Rangers into the Premiership, the pressure was wholly on Celtic. It’s not that they didn’t have any, it’s just that they dealt with it so relentlessly. Celtic have simply managed to make it look that easy.
Pedro Caixinha and Graeme Murty’s respective revamps also had to be dealt with by a Celtic side who are always under pressure to keep Rangers quiet.
And now that Steven Gerrard has managed to get Rangers into second (for now), we’re being informed once again that we’ve had no pressure from McCulloch.
As expected, Celtic are dealing with it all well. They could go six points clear if they beat St Johnstone at Parkhead tomorrow. All the while, they have one trophy in the cabinet and the Scottish Cup in their sights too. But they’ll be itching to see it through and bury that label for good.
No pressure? No, it’s just that Celtic make it look that way.