The former Celtic manager believes that the present situation on and off the field should worry Gers supporters. During his time, he was accustomed to being engaged in some memorable title clashes with the Ibrox club.
The Scottish football scene is dominated by its local rivals, and the Light Blues have only won three domestic trophies in the last 13 years: one Premiership title, one League Cup, and one Scottish Cup. As things stand, the Hoops are poised to win the Premiership title for a record fourth time, but so far this season, Jimmy Thelin’s Aberdeen, not Rangers, have been challenging the champions.
The Gers’ 1-0 loss to Kilmarnock on the road on Sunday caused them to drop even more points from the top two over the weekend. However, O’Neill maintains that Celtic needs a strong Rangers team because it keeps both sides focused on winning.
“No, I cannot (believe the situation Rangers are in),” he said in an interview with talkSPORT. The people you are referring to (Dave King and other boardroom leaders) are unknown to me. Commenting on their side and the outcomes they are achieving is one thing you can do. That has been happening for a while. Something has to be done better.
Watch our writers talk about Celtic’s disappointing loss in Kilmarneck, where they drew 2-2 with Aberdeen and Rangers.
Even from a Celtic perspective, I’m hoping Brendan would concur that a strong Rangers are necessary for Celtic to stay strong—truly, really strong. Although I may not have acknowledged it at the time, I have stated on numerous occasions that it is crucial for Celtic to maintain focus. Given Rangers’ extreme poverty, you would imagine that you could win the entire season if you believed Aberdeen would be your closest rival and your most respected opponent.
O’Neill has given under-fire Philippe Clement some advise of his own, telling him that in order to stop his team’s worrying decline in performance and form, the Belgian must find new means to grind out victories. He went on to say: “They’re not good enough, that’s right. As a manager, you have to get the best, eke out results, and have a clear pattern about your team and how they’re going to play.” You must simply persevere. No matter how awful the game is, you should still go for it and win.
You have to worry about that team because they had a chance there and Celtic had lost a few points. But you got the outcome, so go ahead and grab it. The whole point was that they didn’t appear to be interested in scoring a goal. That’s how you feel about this certain side. To give themselves a glimmer of hope and confidence, they must go out and win, manage three straight victories.