Celtic’s Scottish Premiership title win and undefeated streak against Rangers have once again proven that the Bhoys are the best team in the country.
Despite all the hype of Michael Beale’s recruitment last summer and then yet more hype when Philippe Clement arrived, the Bhoys have batted off their rivals for a third successive season.
For Chris Sutton, it’s all about leadership. Celtic have a core group of dressing-room leaders who are born winners, shut out all the noise and don’t give the opposition ammunition.
It’s well-known now that these Bhoys only do their talking on the pitch, in contrast to some of the social media antics of others.
Sutton reckons that figures such as Todd Cantwell at Ibrox demonstrate the big difference between the two camps.
Chris Sutton on Celtic and Rangers gap
The former Celtic striker said [Daily Record]: “Rodgers will know it’s hard to find leaders like Hart. In fairness, Celtic have a few of them – and that’s why they are champions. I look at the likes of McGregor and Forrest – along with Hart – and they are the ones who stayed calm and produced when the pressure was really on.
“Then I look at Rangers and you can see why they collapsed when the heat came on and ultimately fell short. You see Todd Cantwell’s goal celebration the other night in front of all those empty seats at Ibrox.
“He should have been keeping the head down after his side’s failure, not drawing yet more attention to himself. I think back to the social media stuff with the 56 on his shorts – with reference to the title. The likes of McGregor and Forrest have done their talking on the pitch – not on their shorts.
“That has been the key difference for me over the course. It’s not been a vintage season for Celtic by any means. There have been difficulties and hurdles along the way. But they’ve done it when it mattered in the big games and are deservedly champions.”
Celtic’s chance to leave Rangers in their dust
With a Scottish Cup final against the Ibrox outfit next week, Celtic can put the perfect full stop on this season with another big derby victory.
Then, this summer, the club have the chance to utilise resources that Rangers can only dream of to build a team that can take the club forward for two or three years. There’s truly a chance to leave them in the dust.
Brendan Rodgers has already spoken about having positive board meetings with the clubs in regards to recruitment. There must be alignment on ambitions and vision for the first team. This is a summer to build on a position of strength.
We said that last year but with everything more settled this time around, Rodgers can really turn the screw in this rivalry.