Celtic inflicted damaging blows on Rangers during May, ending their Scottish Premiership dreams and beating them in the Scottish Cup final.
It has left the Ibrox side with serious questions to answer this summer with many expecting there to be a high turnover of players after multiple failures.
However, they aren’t in the best shape to deliver that after the exit of their CEO James Bisgrove, which was announced in a surprise statement on Thursday.
The Scottish Sun reports Bisgrove has quit the club and is moving to Saudi Arabia. It’s a sudden switch said by the paper to have left the Ibrox hierarchy ‘stunned’, suggesting this was not at all part of their rebuild plans.
Chairman John Bennett is now being forced to step into an interim executive role during a critical few months for the second-placed side. Even if some of their fans reckon Bisgrove’s exit ends up being a positive for them, it’s hardly a good sign that a key staff member is leaving with so much imminent work ahead.
Celtic looking for ‘natural’ cycle of renewal
In contrast, Celtic have put upheaval behind them after Ange Postecoglou’s exit last summer and look primed to push on to new heights. The difference between the two clubs is stark right now.
Brendan Rodgers has spoken this week about the ‘natural’ renewal in the Celtic squad over the coming months as he plans out the transfer window.
Alistair Johnston has also predicted that the Bhoys will be stronger than they were this term due to a more stable coaching and club environment, much like Postecoglou’s second treble-winning term.
That’s a message captain Callum McGregor delivered earlier this week, too, already thinking about next season on his post-match media duties following the cup final victory.
Bolstered by another season of guaranteed Champions League money, Celtic really couldn’t be in a better position to capitalise on recent successes and uncertainty across the city.
It’s important to remember, however, that this was said last year by many too. The club need to execute effectively and can’t rest on their laurels.
We need to see strong, proactive transfer work on the manager’s realistic top targets and ensure this momentum around the club continues into the start of next season.
Do that and it may not even matter what’s happening at Ibrox, chaos or not.