John Hartson has offered his verdict on Rangers and Celtic’s title challenge, admitting that the Gers’ upturn in form has meant that “there’s a race on”.
The Light Blues have recovered from a dismal start to the campaign under the management of Michael Beale with an excellent run of form under Philippe Clement, with the Belgian winning all four of his Scottish Premiership matches in charge of Rangers.
While Celtic remain unbeaten and clear at the top of the table, Hartson believes the Gers have enough quality to produce a genuine title race but still tips the Hoops to come out on top given their dominance over Rangers in the last decade.
Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show (November 14, 12:53), he said: “Celtic are still unbeaten in the league, and Celtic fans will feel the title is in the bag. But nobody ever hands out titles after 13 games.
“Rangers have a game in hand; if they win, it’s down to five. Rangers play Celtic on December 30; they know how big that game is at Celtic Park, and you’ve just got to keep winning.
“I just think Celtic would welcome a challenge; they’ve had it particularly easy for the last 10 or 11 years, apart from when they were under Gerrard. From the Rangers’ point of view, they have to keep the heat on. They have to keep this pace up because Celtic have been over the course many times in recent years.
“A lot of the Rangers players haven’t experienced that at Rangers, so that is going to be key in terms of their success and trying to bring the title back. But as I see it, there’s a race on, and that consistency to keep winning puts pressure on the other team.”
Just keep winning
The task at hand for the Rangers for the remainder of the season is a simple one. The Light Blues just need to keep winning games to put themselves in the best position to pounce should their Old Firm rivals drop points again.
Celtic are by no means a perfect side currently and have shown that they are beatable. Rangers weren’t at the races during the first derby of the season, but with this newfound form under Clement, they will feel they can pose a genuine threat to Brendan Rodgers’ side.
A five-point gap may feel like a lot now, but it only takes a couple of results for that pendulum to shift massively, and Rangers have to focus on picking up points themselves rather than worrying about what Rodgers is doing on the other side of Glasgow.
If they keep finding ways to win games as they have done in the early stages under the Belgian, they’ll at least give themselves a chance of lifting the title. As Hartson said, nobody wins a league title after 13 matches; there’s still plenty of football to be played.
