JUST when you thought there might be a meaningful Scottish title race once again.
Brendan Rodgers was at pains to stress at the weekend that, despite Celtic moving four points clear at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership with a game in hand, nothing had been decided by the resounding win over Rangers.
His players all echoed his understandable sentiments in the aftermath of what had been, even by the standards of the Old Firm fixture, a remarkable encounter at Parkhead at Saturday.
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“The manager tells us never to get complacent,” said Scott Sinclair. “When you are winning games, keep being dominant. Each week, never drop off. Each match takes us a step closer.”
Yet, it is, regardless of the noises coming out of the top flight leaders’ camp and irrespective of the fact they have only played four league matches in the 2016/17 campaign, nigh on impossible to see anything other than a sixth consecutive triumph for the defending champions now.
The 5-1 victory over their city rivals was achieved without the services of their first choice striker and leading goalscorer - Leigh Griffiths was ruled out before kick-off with a calf injury.
What is more, Patrick Roberts, the £12 million Manchester City winger who is on loan at Celtic once again this season, also started the game on the bench having only recently regained full fitness. In different circumstances, he would have been in the starting line-up.
The display of Stuart Armstrong, who has failed to perform consistently since his move from Dundee United last year, also strongly suggested he may have an increasingly prominent role to play in the future.
The midfielder replaced Tom Rogic, who had faded noticeably as a result of his exertions with Australia during the international break, early in the second half and capped an encouraging display with a well-taken goal in injury-time.
In short, Celtic were not at full strength. They have performed far better this season. How, then, will they fare when they can field their best team? It must be a deeply concerning prospect for anyone of a Rangers persuasion.
The involvement of the Ibrox club in the Premiership once again this term after four long years in the lower leagues was greeted with great sense of anticipation throughout the national game.
Especially when manager Mark Warburton strengthened his squad with the likes of Joey Barton, Niko Kranjcar and Philippe Senderos, all players of some renown in the Premier League in England, during the summer.
But all three men looked as if they had been signed on reputation not form at the weekend. Barton was once again ineffectual, Kranjcar struggled with the pace of the game and was substituted before he was sent off and Senderos was red carded needlessly for some schoolboy defending.
Warburton has repeatedly insisted his new recruits will come good when they have had the time they need to attain peak physical condition and gel with their new team mates. But the game against Celtic was their tenth competitive outing of the season. Surely that is quite long enough for them to settle in.
Many big name players from down south, including James Beattie, Carlton Cole, Thomas Gravesen, Francis Jeffers, Freddie Ljunberg and Ian Wright, have moved to this country as the end of their careers approached and failed miserably to replicate their former glories in recent years.
On the evidence of their latest outing, Barton, Kranjcar and Senderos look set to be the latest three high-profile imports who will disappoint.
Warburton has been heavily criticised among the Rangers support for failing to adequately address the defensive frailties which were glaringly obvious last season despite his side’s comfortable win in the Championship.
It is slightly harsh given the fact that he has brought in Clint Hill, a seasoned campaigner in the Premier League, Senderos, who has also played at a high level for a long time, and attempted to land Joleon Lescott.
However, there can be no denying this Rangers team is nowhere near good enough at the back or in the middle of the park to challenge Celtic for the Premiership crown. Indeed, they will be doing well to finish runners-up and claim a Europa League place given their limitations. That would appear to be their most realistic goal in the coming months.
The showing of Josh Windass, a surprise inclusion in the visitors’ side, will have been encouraging for Warburton. Kenny Miller also performed like a man half his age. Joe Garner showed a poacher’s instincts to net his first goal for his new club from close range. That apart, there was precious little for Rangers to take comfort from.
Moussa Dembele, who only started due to the unavailability of Griffiths, took his hat-trick, the first a Celtic player had bagged in a league game against Rangers in 50 years, clinically. He was, though, unmarked at his first goal, netted his second after his side were gifted possession and had time and space to bury his third.
The outcome of this game was as much down to the financial health of the respective clubs as it was to the excellence of their players or the ability of their managers. But it is Warburton who will ultimately pay the price.
The Rangers support will not tolerate many more humiliations like the one they suffered at the weekend.
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