It’s widely accepted that Celtic’s main challenger for the Scottish Premiership title is Hearts, especially with Rangers being beaten at Tynecastle at the weekend.
On top of Rangers’ defeat in the capital, Celtic’s win at Aberdeen opened up a six point gap to Rangers at the top of the table.
But that isn’t the only thing that happened after the weekend’s results. The Ibrox club also dropped into fourth place with another club leapfrogging them to sit just behind Celtic.
And that’s the team Celtic hero Pat Bonner says that he cannot rule out as a genuine contender for the title as the Bhoys and Rangers stumble this season.
BBC man tells Pat Bonner Motherwell are a genuine title contender to Celtic
Bonner was on BBC duties at the weekend and was speaking to Richard Gordon about who is Celtic’s main challenger and the effect it has on Scottish football.
Bonner told BBC Radio Scotland, “Ryan [Stevenson] talked about the Hearts supporters, of course, it’s brilliant for them.
“I’m not sure if the Celtic supporters are feeling that way at the moment, but listen, it’s that kind of competition that, I think, this league has been crying out for over the years.
“You know, just two teams, maybe even one team, for a long time dominating now, three teams are in the spotlight.”
Richard Gordon interjected and said, “You’ve said three, I think we’re all saying four, maybe. We’ve got to include Motherwell.
“The way they’re going, they’ve only lost two out of 18, which is half the games that Celtic have lost this season.”
Can Motherwell be counted as a genuine challenger to Celtic? Let us know in the comments.
Bonner is ‘not dismissing’ Motherwell’s possible challenge to Celtic
And responding to Gordon’s claim, Bonner really played out Motherwell’s chances and said that if they can push, it would be brilliant for Scottish football.
Bonner: “Yeah. And it’s been an incredible season for them. And the way they play the game, and everybody’s talking about it.
“And they do play Celtic and Rangers in the next couple of games, so and again, that could almost project them into it.
“I’m not dismissing them, by no means. That would be terrible to say that. But what it always is, you know, the two top teams, of course, over the years, have been Celtic and Rangers.
“With Hearts now challenging them there, and rightly so, and if Motherwell can get in there, brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.”
We understand what Bonner is getting at but Motherwell being a genuine title challenger is something that is simply not viable.
What we can agree on is that if Motherwell can at least stay within touching distance of Celtic, it would be a great season for them. But a title challenger? Not for us.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
