Celtic enjoyed a wonderful end to the season after adding the Scottish Cup to the Scottish Premiership title that was won in the 5-0 away win to Kilmarnock last month.
After a season where Celtic’s form peaked and troughed like a rollercoaster, Brendan Rodgers still delivered two out of three trophies to leave the Hoops support jubilant and our rivals across the city gutted.
Whilst the media narrative around January time was about Celtic losing their way whilst Rangers were on the up, Rodgers kept his cool and he and his team produced the goods whilst our rivals wilted under the pressure.
And that pressure has just been ramped up again by former Celtic hero, Kenny Dalglish.
Dalglish puts pressure on Philippe Clement’s ‘totally unacceptable’ Celtic record
Out of five meetings between Celtic and Rangers last season, Brendan Rodgers’ team came out of those undefeated by winning four and drawing once keeping the Hoops boss’ impressive record against our rivals intact as well as Celtic’s overall in the last three seasons.
And that was exactly what Dalglish branded as ‘totally unacceptable’ as he lay down the gauntlet to Clement for next season.
Dalglish said [The Sunday Post print edition page 73], “When it mattered, they produced the goods. They defeated Rangers four times and drew with them once. It was a brilliant record.
“Rangers, on the other hand, need to find a way to beat their biggest rivals.
“From their point of view, their results in Old Firm matches in the last three years have been totally unacceptable.
“Sure, they can point to the fact all their defeats came by a single goal. They also played well in stages in the Scottish Cup final last week and had Celtic pinned back for spells.
“But since when was that good enough or acceptable for a club of that size with its success rate? The onus is now on Philippe Clement to find a way. And he’ll need to do it quickly.
“There is no room for more defeats.”
And the reason why the pressure is immediately on Clement? The first Glasgow Derby of the season will be at Celtic Park next season.
If Clement loses that then he will be under pressure immediately as his winless run against the Scottish champions continues.
And as we all know, continued failure to beat your biggest rivals does not bode well for any Rangers manager especially as Celtic have been so dominant over the past 24 years.