‘Winning is all that matters’ – John Barnes makes Rangers v Celtic title claim
Former Celtic manager John Barnes believes that the Hoops are still favourites to win the Scottish Premiership, despite Rangers being nine points clear.
The ex Liverpool and England man spent eight months in charge at Parkhead and is backing his former club to improve throughout the season.
Speaking to bonuscodebets.co.uk, Barnes said that the Gers were a strong team this season, but that there was still plenty of matches to be played.
“At the end of the day, winning is all that matters,” he said.
“I’m sure Steven Gerrard will take just as much pleasure, perhaps even more, when they don’t play well, but are still winning, as he’d do when winning 5-0 whilst playing well. It’s all about the points and this season, for Rangers to stop Celtic winning the 10-in-a-row. And I must say, Rangers are looking really strong this season.”
“The fact they’ve dropped points is unusual for a team such as Celtic, probably more unusual than Rangers doing really well. You’d expect Rangers to be where they are, but you wouldn’t expect Celtic to have dropped as many points or to have been so inconsistent. But it’s early days and plenty of time for them to make up the points. I think they’ll still make the 10-in-a-row.”
Although Rangers have racked up a nine points lead on paper, Celtic have two games in hand on their Old Firm rivals, which could see the gap reduced to three points.
Steven Gerrard’s side will face off with Celtic twice more this season, having won the initial meeting at Parkhead 2-0, meaning there remains plenty of work to do.
Rangers have certainly had the better defence so far this season, conceding just three league goals, but the Hoops remain dangerous in attack, having scored 32 goals from 12 matches already (via WhoScored).
The Gers 8-0 win over an injury-stricken Hamilton Academical was a sign that perhaps they could be starting hit their attacking stride, but they were significantly outscored by their rivals last season (via WhoScored).
For Gerrard, the focus will simply be on winning as many games as they can and continuing to put the pressure on Celtic and their under-fire manager Neil Lennon, as the longer Rangers are ahead, the more and more likely their chances of ending Celtic’s nine-year run of dominance become.
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