Ibrox View: Chris Sutton makes ridiculous Rangers claim ahead of clash v Celtic
Chris Sutton has claimed that Rangers ‘won’t recover’ if they lose against Celtic in the first Old Firm of the season.
The Gers face the Hoops at Celtic Park on Saturday and he thinks the game could prove to be pivotal for both sides in their hunt for the title, even though it is still early in the season.
However, as usual, Sutton only sees it one way and, writing in his Daily Record column, he warned of the ‘brutal setback’ that would be inflicted on Steven Gerrard’s side if they lose today.
Sutton said, “Celtic boss Neil Lennon says today’s massive game won’t define the season. I’m sorry to disagree with my old teammate, but it definitely could. If Rangers lose it, they won’t recover. Psychologically, it would be a huge blow for Steven Gerrard’s team.
“If they lose in Glasgow’s East End, it’ll be a brutal setback, whereas Celtic proved after the last derby game losing it doesn’t knock them too much.”
Surprise, surprise.
Sutton can’t help himself but this is over-the-top even for him.
How would Rangers losing at Celtic Park in an Old Firm game be a brutal blow? We suppose it shows how far Rangers have come under Gerrard, but it’s the sort of thing you’d expect to hear from a misguided fan on Twitter, not a BBC pundit.
With last season being curtailed, there is no way of knowing what would have happened if the full campaign had been played out. And, this season, Rangers have had a fantastic start to both the Premiership and Europa campaigns.
Celtic will have to win their next title on the pitch and they might well get their own brutal setback today. Back-to-back Old Firm wins and this one at Celtic Park would be a much bigger blow to the home side than Rangers losing.
We agree with one thing though. A win this weekend would give Rangers a huge boost in the title race, even with more than six months of the season to go.
However, a defeat would be a setback that we’d still expect Rangers to come back from.
In other Rangers news, Celtic suffer another huge blow ahead of the Old Firm.