Steven Gerrard knew the scale of what he had to do at Rangers before the Old Firm derby, so defeat to Celtic wouldn’t have been a wake-up call.
He’s too intelligent to think Rangers had bridged that huge gap within two months. He knows there’s no magic wand.
Gerrard would’ve got a feel for where his side are at though.
Compared to recent Old Firm derbies, the defence looked more solid and the midfield protected them better. The team in general were more solid. So, there are positives.
He’ll probably think that he needs to work on his midfield as Celtic’s three ran the game. They were too good for Rangers on the day and because of that, the forwards didn’t get much service.
They couldn’t threaten Celtic, which is the disappointment for Steven.
Will Rangers get better? Yes. Will they win the title this year? I don’t think so.
People are now looking at Rangers and saying ‘how will you deal with that, lads?’
It’s up to them now to take up that challenge, but there’s still some distance between the two teams.
Glasgow paranoia
Steven got caught up in the refereeing decisions in the media interviews after the match, but he was trying to defend his players – the most important thing after an Old Firm defeat.
I believe he was right and it was a foul, but the referee had nothing to do with the woodwork denying Celtic four times or Allan McGregor being brilliant.
It wasn’t the referee stopping the goals going in. But I understand it, the heat of the battle and the Rangers players defended manfully.
Looking at his approach since going there, someone must’ve primed Steven for the fact that Rangers have had everyone against them for the last 10 years. Or the last 20, or 100, depending on who you speak to.
Steven’s just in the door. It took me a wee while for the paranoia to set in, it wasn’t as quick as this.
It’s the way the game gets you in Glasgow but that’ll endear Gerrard to the supporters, that’s for sure.
Celtic vindicated Rodgers with admirable display
Celtic should be very pleased with the performance. They’ve had turmoil behind the scenes and it’s not easy when there are players having their head turned.
Unless you’ve been there, you’ve no idea what it’s like to deal with a player who comes to training a few days before a big match and affects the dressing room.
Brendan had to make a split-second decision about Dembele and he’s been vindicated by that performance.
The whole world was telling Celtic that Rangers were coming for them. To deal with all the off-field stuff and to perform the way they did, was admirable and it says a lot for Celtic’s team spirit and single-mindedness the way they went up against that Rangers team.
It was a dominant performance from The Bhoys. Their power and ability in midfield was just too much.
Celtic had so many questions thrown at them and they answered every single one of them.
See all your Scottish Premiership odds on paddypower.com