Celtic legend John Hartson has told Rangers CEO James Bisgrove ‘we have heard the same’ from the Ibrox club before following their appointment of Philippe Clement.
The former striker warned those at Rangers that they are coming up against a ‘juggernaut’ in Celtic, who after winning the Treble under Ange Postecoglou, are now going strong under Brendan Rodgers – Barry Ferguson praised two Bhoys players.
But with James Bisgrove claiming that they have ‘done their due diligence’ (Glasgow Times) over the appointment of Philippe Clement, John Hartson wasn’t having any of it.
The former Wales international stated that the same was said about Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale, yet look how that ended up for them, as he told Go Radio.
It wasn’t so long ago that those across Glasgow were questioning Ange Postecoglou, well, that talk quickly died down as he wrote his name in Celtic’s legendary books.
Even with Micheal Beale in charge in the summer, there was a lot of hype after a summer of spending from Rangers, yet fast forward to the present, and it’s Celtic holding a seven-point lead at the top.
“They are up against a juggernaut in Celtic, in terms of the Scottish Premiership, on a crest of a wave, good players and they are going to add more good players,” said Hartson.
“What Mr. Bisgrove said there. We heard the same about Giovanni van Bronckhorst. ‘We have done our due diligence and feel he is the right man for the job’, with Michael Beale ‘we have done our due diligence’. He turned Wolves down apparently. ‘We backed him and bought ten players under his reign. We get behind the manager’ and they are saying the exact same thing.
“What I would say is. I am not nowhere near writing this guy off (Philippe Clement). But what he has to do is play really, really good football and he has to topple Celtic.
“If he doesn’t, like Beale tried and Giovanni van Bronckhorst tried, I know the Rangers fans are all excited. Excellent, they have a new man in the door. They are going to back him.
“But they will only back him if you win here in Glasgow. You can’t say ‘we have a long-term plan’. The only time you have a long-term plan is if you are winning and are really successful at the club.”
It’s a tricky first game back for Rodgers and his players, with a Sunday clash against Hearts awaiting them – the Celtic boss was keen to talk about the measly away ticket allocation handed out for the Tynecastle trip.
Either way, it’s another chance for this ever-improving Celtic side to maintain their unbeaten start and shut off any noise coming from Ibrox.
The team has done pretty well to focus on themselves and overcome any internal issues, such as injuries, with key players now returning, including Cameron Carter-Vickers prior to the international break.