How far behind are they?

Middle to front they aren’t that bad
If they sort their defence and goalkeeping position then they will challenge for sure

They might challenge for 2nd place but they need a complete overhaul to compete for the title. That isn’t happening this season.

We’re stronger now than a few months ago and they’re considerably weaker so the 30 point gap isn’t getting and smaller.
 
15-18 first team players to have the strength and depth we have imo. That’ll be an average of £2.5m each. Some will be more and some will be less or free but they’d all need to work. 18x2.5=£45m :)

We’ve shown you can build a squad for less but we built the structure and brought the management team who can identify players and coach players to play in the system. They seem to just be linking themselves to anybody. The scattergun can get expensive very quickly.
 
I said we'd win the league this year and probably next. But I'm not deluded or naive enough to think they won't strength or catch up.

On the back of that you've called me a panic merchant and no better than a lunatic tim because I think winning old firms is an important step to winning titles. Haha mentalism.
You are being economical with the truth.

I quoted your words precisely. You stated (or directly implied, but it amounts to the same thing) the tims will match our point haul v the rest and we need to equal or exceed their points in the old firm. This is not the case and the Old firm games have not decided to the outcome of the league in years. The team picking up more points in the other 34 games has won the league for a long time. “Ha ha”. The fact you like to state and others parrot on here is false. The OF games are seldom decisive these days. They are just 3 points like any other game and do not dictate the outcome of the league. Typically one team is out of sight. There is nothing to suggest the tims will match our results against the rest of the league “and then it’s down to the 4 old firms for the title”. These are your words I am quoting and they are wrong. “Ha ha”. ;)
 
Talk of them being far closer than they really are doesn't help anyway.

Not sure of the value of the analogy of an Aberdeen team who have never been anywhere in the league.

Bizarre post

They went from being all conquering to 25 points behind in the space of a season

Can you not see how stupid it would be to not appreciate that things can happen for big swings?

My Aberdeen analogy was purely, they don't need to be brilliant they just need to beat the dross then try and snatch points from us.

Bizarre that you can't see that
 
A country mile behind and Tom English, of all people, last night put it into perspective. If the league started right now, we could field 2 teams, and no more signings were allowed, then our second string team would take the current Celtic one to the cleaners. He isn't wrong either.

They need another 6 or 7 top quality, not average squad filler, players that hit the ground running on top of the CB and Japanese striker they've signed just to be semi competitive. They are then fully dependent on not getting any serious injuries, no covid outbreaks and having a pristine disciplinary record as they would still have zero depth to their squad if they lost any for a prolonged period of time. They need to keep Christie, which I can't see, and the Japanese needs to be as effective or better than Edouard whom he will replace. That's a lot of if's and but's and finger crossing.

The same people in here defending them by saying you can't write them off, they'll still hammer the dross and won't be worse than last year are very likely the same posters under Warburton and Pedro who were vociferous in highlighting why we were miles behind Celtic in terms of winning mentality (they only have McGregor, Thumb, Rogic and the 2 wantaways left who have that experience), individual quality and depth of squad, whilst also arguing we were light years behind them, would win nothing and struggle to get second from Aberdeen.

I called the league in September last year when I saw the mess they were in, and was shot down repeatedly by the one game a time, they know how to win a league, we don't, let's see if we can play after Xmas when it counts crew. I'm calling it now this season. They have far, far, far too much to do and zero time to do it. It's not happy clapping, it's using my eyes and applying common sense.

How many accounts has Tailwind got ffs!
 
Regardless they should still have enough to beat the rest of the SPFL dung therefore we still need to be wary and do our job. We keep winning it just increases pressure which will eventually tell if they maintain this form.
 
They went from being all conquering to 25 points behind in the space of a season

Can you not see how stupid it would be to not appreciate that things can happen for big swings?

My Aberdeen analogy was purely, they don't need to be brilliant they just need to beat the dross then try and snatch points from us.

Bizarre that you can't see that
Can you not see how stupid it is to say a big gap was overturned before so it’s likely to happen again this year.

Those swings weren’t magical, there were factors that led to them.

All factors point to Rangers improving and Celtic going backwards.

It will happen one year where the balance of power shifts. But it will not be this year.

Your argument is it has happened before so it can happen again. In the same vein I will say Rangers won the league by over 20 points last year, it happened before so it will happen again this year, ”can you not see how stupid it is to disagree”? ;)

Bizarre that you cant see that.

Celtic have the same coaching staff that failed horrifically last year.
They have added a manager of questionable ability with no experience of European, much less Scottish football.
They have lost about 10 first team squad players.
They have lost their best defender. They have lost their best attacking/midfield player, Elynoussi, they are expected to lose their 22goal forward. They are losing about 40 goals between those 2.
They have lost their Captain, their devious, controlling CEO.
They have the same terrible goalkeeping options as last year.
They have a worse defence currently than the bombscare of last year.
Their midfield squad is overall weaker.
Their forward options are weaker.
They have no structure to help them identify and secure decent replacements.

All this goes against your argument of why they will overturn a 25 point lead. Actual tangible, objective reasons and supporting evidence versus “a gap was overturned before in completely different circumstances and I am terrified it will happen again”.

There is no good, logical reason to suggest such an enormous gap will be overturned this season.

When that has happened before it has typically been a team who has endured a period of success and is beginning its decline with aging or less motivated players. This is not the scenario you see now. It’s in comparing apples with oranges. Most things have happened before, but there needs to be actual justifying evidence of why people think such an outcome will occur now.
 
Can you not see how stupid it is to say a big gap was overturned before so it’s likely to happen again this year.

Those swings weren’t magical, there were factors that led to them.

All factors point to Rangers improving and Celtic going backwards.

It will happen one year where the balance of power shifts. But it will not be this year.

Your argument is it has happened before so it can happen again. In the same vein I will say Rangers won the league by over 20 points last year, it happened before so it will happen again this year, ”can you not see how stupid it is to disagree”? ;)

Bizarre that you cant see that.

Celtic have the same coaching staff that failed horrifically last year.
They have added a manager of questionable ability with no experience of European, much less Scottish football.
They have lost about 10 first team squad players.
They have lost their best defender. They have lost their best attacking/midfield player, Elynoussi, they are expected to lose their 22goal forward. They are losing about 40 goals between those 2.
They have lost their Captain, their devious, controlling CEO.
They have the same terrible goalkeeping options as last year.
They have a worse defence currently than the bombscare of last year.
Their midfield squad is overall weaker.
Their forward options are weaker.
They have no structure to help them identify and secure decent replacements.

All this goes against your argument of why they will overturn a 25 point lead. Actual tangible, objective reasons and supporting evidence versus “a gap was overturned before in completely different circumstances and I am terrified it will happen again”.

There is no good, logical reason to suggest such an enormous gap will be overturned this season.

When that has happened before it has typically been a team who has endured a period of success and is beginning its decline with aging or less motivated players. This is not the scenario you see now. It’s in comparing apples with oranges. Most things have happened before, but there needs to be actual justifying evidence of why people think such an outcome will occur now.

Mate I read the first paragraph

Goodnight
 
They do appear to be in a bit of a pickle. Hard to see how they can sort themselves out this window. If we take care of our own business, and avoid any catastrophic bad luck, we could well be in easy street before the winter break again.
 
It is best to assume they are breathing down our necks. The fcuked up by thinking we were miles behind them.
 
complacency and over confidence are the biggest threats this season, we have the opportunity to really dominate but will need a laser focus and will need 18-19 players contributing again. Thankfully we have character in abundance, seemingly a humble squad and Gerrard to keep them grounded.
 
They're at least three years behind. Ange Warburton isn't going to bridge the gap.

We just have to make sure we don't rest on our laurels. So important that we continue to chase European success.
 
Not far at all, they have had a shocker of a season, but with a good coach, they do have some good players.

They showed in the last OF that if they are more tactically drilled they will cause us problems.
You know it’s Celtic we’re talking about? They need 4-5 key players, not a couple of fullbacks. Their decent player wants away and their other one blows out his arse after 70 minutes.
If they don’t get some really good players in and settled in, they will be no better than our first season back up.
 
Their assets are and have been depreciating at a rate they can't replace due to no champs league for past 4 years andi reckon at moment,they are 2-3 seasons worth of transfer windows behind us.
This will get worse for them as we improve and they have to rebuild.

That is without factoring in any loans to be repaid or any financial liabilities via boys club sex abuse compo claims.
 
Not far at all, they have had a shocker of a season, but with a good coach, they do have some good players.

They showed in the last OF that if they are more tactically drilled they will cause us problems.
Don't buy that at all.

Their current trajectory is down. No money, some sellable assets for sure, but not enough to build a whole team. No scouting, new CEO, new manager, and the same backroom that was far short of it last season.

They have a mass of amortizations on players that they've already decided aren't up to it... Refunding season tickets, unhappy fanbase, and a chairman that thinks the fanbase are spoilt and need to pipe down.

It took us three years to move this squad to champions... They will have a similar outlay in funding and their fans won't have the patience... Just by virtue of their recent glut of success..

I won't be assuming we win anything until we have it in the cabinet, but they have regressed further than imaginable...
 
How close they get will depend on how strong Abergreen and Hibs are this year. Its not beyond them to sort themselves out enough to take most of the points off these teams.

If we look after our own business with the yahoos and the two other challengers then we should be safe.

The biggest threat to retaining the title will be ourselves.
 
You are being economical with the truth.

I quoted your words precisely. You stated (or directly implied, but it amounts to the same thing) the tims will match our point haul v the rest and we need to equal or exceed their points in the old firm. This is not the case and the Old firm games have not decided to the outcome of the league in years. The team picking up more points in the other 34 games has won the league for a long time. “Ha ha”. The fact you like to state and others parrot on here is false. The OF games are seldom decisive these days. They are just 3 points like any other game and do not dictate the outcome of the league. Typically one team is out of sight. There is nothing to suggest the tims will match our results against the rest of the league “and then it’s down to the 4 old firms for the title”. These are your words I am quoting and they are wrong. “Ha ha”. ;)


Aye Haha, I find it's better to laugh at people manufacturing arguements on the internet. Saves ruining my casual use of a football forum.

You keep plugging away though, what I said was simple your (I hope)deliberate lack of written comprehension isn't my problem. Have a nice night.
 
How close they get will depend on how strong Abergreen and Hibs are this year. Its not beyond them to sort themselves out enough to take most of the points off these teams.

If we look after our own business with the yahoos and the two other challengers then we should be safe.

The biggest threat to retaining the title will be ourselves.

Well if tonight's games are anything to go by, both Hibs and Aberdeen are absolutely woeful.
 
I am extremely wary of getting ahead of ourselves. Seems like the perfect set up for a FollowFollow meltdown.

Like the Danes were going to hammer Celtic when the draw was made then 15 minutes into the 1st leg "the Danes are rank rotten".

So here we go thinking they will get beat at Tynecastle on Saturday night. Maybe let's see how the first 10 games or so go.

Or take it one game at a time. Haha.

What I would say though is that a lot of times the writing is on the wall in football. Tims have the same coaching staff that fell to Ferencvaros and Sparta Prague last season and it feels like their new manager is already set up to fail. In this league what will make or break a title challenge is going to come down to having a long winning run. I don't see how they will do that.

It is very unlikely that we will match last season and the supporters will need to keep the head if we fall behind. People were going mental after the 0-0 with Livi and the 2-2 with Hibs last year but luckily by the next time we dropped points the league was done. Need to remember though that we left it late v Motherwell and walked a tightrope v the Tims at Ibrox. Could have easily been 4 points difference after the new year game instead of 10.

Honestly think our biggest threat will be how quickly they change manager. Don't think Ange is will "get" Scottish football and we've seen how that goes.
 
Just thinking there, how far behind do you think they are? I reckon they’re where we were about 2 years ago, NOW!
So where will they be at the end of the season when they need 13 players? Where we were 3/4 years ago?
it’s Gona take more than 1 or 2 transfer windows to even get up to a par IMHO!
1. tgey can’t afford it.
2. Loads of new personnel behind the scenes.
3. New manager.
4. Time for players to settle and gel
5. They’re only looking at doing it half arsed because they’ll probably keep the back room staff.
There are more reasons but I think they’re in for a massive shock.
Hopefully we keep going and kick on again next season.
they are are about half way to where they will be .rotten now but worse to come i think if thats possible.
 
They're actually ahead of us. I can see them a few yards further down the road, just as we lap them!
 
Last season we were told we were years off. Look now? It’s one bad set of decisions, one shit manager. Let’s never lose sight of that.
While you not wrong in stating what we were told, that was never actually true.
The league cup final and the next Old Firm confirmed that we were actually as good as them We made some glaring errors afterwards, but our coaching and scouting put us on a steep incline while theirs caused them to nosedive.
What we were told was incorrect. For them to overtake us, there needs to be more than a couple of lucky buys.
 
Just thinking there, how far behind do you think they are? I reckon they’re where we were about 2 years ago, NOW!
So where will they be at the end of the season when they need 13 players? Where we were 3/4 years ago?
it’s Gona take more than 1 or 2 transfer windows to even get up to a par IMHO!
1. tgey can’t afford it.
2. Loads of new personnel behind the scenes.
3. New manager.
4. Time for players to settle and gel
5. They’re only looking at doing it half arsed because they’ll probably keep the back room staff.
There are more reasons but I think they’re in for a massive shock.
Hopefully we keep going and kick on again next season.
I'll tell you in a few weeks.
 
2 major aspects this season this season:

1 - Us making the champions league this year and making £25,000,000 + with them not in in
2 - Us winning this league this year and guaranteeing £25,000,000 + for next season
I'm sure the board are aware of these figures, I hope they see the merit in bringing in a quality signing to push for it - especially if we lose any players.
 
I honestly don't think they are as far away as what people think they are. They were the better team overall in both games against Midgetland, they just couldn't seem to take their chances. I think the question that is being asked by the OP will change MASSIVELY if Rangers reach the Group Stages of the Champions League giving us enough money to run away with the league for a couple or a few seasons at least.
 
In all honesty, there’s no way they won’t be strengthening their defence/keeper in the next 4/5 weeks

Going forward they’ll still be too strong for the rest of the SPL over the course of a season, defensively it depends who they sign
 
Not that far behind. Just remember how quickly the tables can turn. That’s why we can’t get complacent, need to keep improving.
 
They are the point Gerrard was when he came in he needs to build a squad a philosophy

he might get a decent first 11 who can compete in a one off game

that squad will need improved every window for at least 4 to be credible league title contenders

now here’s the rub. We have worked the Bosman market to great effect they have no credible scouting system they have no director of football to oversee this

if they get extremely lucky they will get 50% of their signings right

they don’t have the resources to buy proven players



we on the other hand look in great shape

we now have a squad of proven winners they dont it takes time to build that mentality

enjoy the season lads it’s going to be terrific
 
In all honesty, there’s no way they won’t be strengthening their defence/keeper in the next 4/5 weeks

Going forward they’ll still be too strong for the rest of the SPL over the course of a season, defensively it depends who they sign

According to my mate they have agreed a deal to sign Lovric.

Could be rubbish but he is usually pretty accurate with info and not your usual typical Celtic idiot fan
 
You know it’s Celtic we’re talking about? They need 4-5 key players, not a couple of fullbacks. Their decent player wants away and their other one blows out his arse after 70 minutes.
If they don’t get some really good players in and settled in, they will be no better than our first season back up.
I said this months ago lol
 
As things stand I think we will win the league comfortably. But football can change fairly quickly as we have seen. 4/5 good signings for them and then suddenly the league becomes a lot tighter

Next few weeks will be interesting- we will see if they have real money to spend or are they skint
 
It depends on how much Davis and Jack will play this season. I think we'll win with 3 games to spare
 
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