Kenny Dalglish rinses ‘unacceptable’ Rangers trope as Celtic legend names Philippe Clement’s £40m problem

Kenny Dalglish rinses ‘unacceptable’ Rangers trope as Celtic legend names Philippe Clement’s £40m problem

Kenny Dalglish has chastised Rangers for their “totally unacceptable” record against Celtic over the last three years, warning that it will not get any easier with the Hoops’ certainty of Champions League action. Philippe Clement has yet to win a game against Celtic since taking over at Ibrox, with a winless streak against the Hoops, including in the Scottish Cup final, exacerbating Rangers fans’ suffering last season. And the record over the last three seasons isn’t much better for Ibrox fans, with the Light Blues winning only two games against their rivals.

In August 2021, Steven Gerrard guided Rangers to a 1-0 victory over Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic, handing the Australian his first Old Firm derby defeat. Michael Beale won his first Old Firm game at the fifth try in May 2023, 3-0, but Celtic had already won the Scottish Premiership at the time.

They defeated the Rangers four times and drew once. It was a brilliant record. Rangers, on the other hand, must find a means to defeat their main opponents. From their perspective, their Old Firm results over the last three years have been completely unacceptable. Sure, they may refer to the fact that all of their defeats were by one goal. They also performed well in sections of the Scottish Cup final last week, with Celtic held back for stretches. “But since when was that good enough or acceptable for a club of that size and success rate?” The onus is now on Philippe Clément to provide a solution. And he’ll need to act soon.

We’ll wait to see what kind of money he has to deal with, but there will be no bottomless pit. The faster they can bring players in, the better. They need to sign some quality players, and they also need to get more out of the current bunch, particularly those who will still be there by the beginning of August.

“That’s also the month their Champions League qualifiers begin, and it would be a huge boost if they could clinch the £40 million prize money. It’s a tough ask, but it’s not impossible to get through both rounds. “Across the city, there is certainty about what they can do in the transfer market, which makes things a lot clearer. Knowing what Brendan and the hierarchy have to work with will make things a lot easier.

“There could yet be a scenario similar to what happened with Jota last summer, when a proposal from Saudi Arabia came out of nowhere and he left for £25 million. However, it appears that Celtic are in an excellent position to react.

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