Celtic ambition questioned by BBC man Tom English as he asks Rangers ‘be-all and end-all’ question after 6-0 result
Tom English has called Celtic’s ambition into question after their latest Champions League defeat and asked “is beating Rangers the be-all and end-all?”
The BBC journalist took to Twitter on 7 November after the Hoops were beaten 6-0 by Atletico Madrid to suggest they have been thrashed so often in Europe they are only focused on overcoming the Light Blues in Scotland.
Rangers also had a miserable Champions League group stage last term but have made it all the way to the Europa League final in the past two years despite faltering domestically.
English wrote: “After a loss like that you have to wonder what ambition looks like at Celtic. I remember asking the same questions when they lost 5-0 to PSG, 7-0 to Barca and 7-1 to PSG.
“Is domestic dominance enough? Is beating Rangers the be-all and end-all?”
Resurgent?
Scottish struggles in the Champions League have become all too familiar and while nobody enjoys getting battered in Europe the fact does remain that priority number one is the SPFL.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst, without a striker fit to start against Eintracht Frankfurt, came within a penalty shoot-out of lifting the Europa League trophy and yet couldn’t survive his inconsistent form in the league.
He also got Rangers into the Champions League but saw nothing like the same sort of continental success he had experienced in the previous campaign.
Michael Beale delivered neither but it was falling behind Celtic in the league table this term with his newly-reinforced squad that ultimately cost him his job.
Celtic have benefited from a lack of stability at Ibrox since the Gers won title 55, with a managerial change before Christmas in every season since.
But Philippe Clement has made a positive start to life at Ibrox and has already narrowed the gap to the leaders once – he now instead has a game in hand – so the Belgian will be looking to end the “domestic dominance” at Parkhead.
He has the chance to lift the Viaplay Cup next month to make a real start on that objective, but the 30 December meeting with Brendan Rodgers’ side will be the real test where he needs to do what his two predecessors couldn’t and start getting results in Old Firm derbies.
In other Rangers news, Celtic were branded “pathetic” over their recent loss while a “brilliant” Gers achievement was used against them live on talkSPORT.