Celtic are surely starting to pull away from the Rangers in the Premiership title race. With the Hoops winning 4-2 against Dundee United and Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side suffering a 2-1 defeat away at St Johnstone, the gap between the Glasgow giants now stands at seven points. Just for context, it is the same difference between the Ibrox club and third-placed Aberdeen.
One man who has had the chance to come up against both sides recently is Livingston manager David Martindale. And while his side were able to get a 1-1 draw against the Rangers at Ibrox, they were defeated 3-0 in their own backyard by Celtic.
Thus, the Livingston boss must certainly have a good idea of where these two sides stand at the moment, and it looks like Martindale holds Celtic in a higher regard than the Rangers based on current form.
As reported by The Herald, the Livingston manager said about the two Glasgow giants:
"“You only have to look at Rangers yesterday (lost 2-1 at St Johnstone) and us at Ibrox (1-1).“Outwith Celtic, I don’t think anyone has a divine right to pick up three points this season.“I’m not a betting man but if I was I would be struggling to pick who the top-six and bottom-six will be, but that is due to the competitive nature of the league which we should be marketing and talking about in a much more positive manner.“Outwith Celtic, and maybe Rangers to a certain degree, any one of us can beat the other one on a given day.“That is the competitive nature of the league and we should be applauding that and talking about the positives.”"
Livingston boss makes interesting comparison between Celtic and the Rangers
Of course, even though Martindale must have meant it as a compliment, most people associated with Celtic will not agree with the ‘divine right’ statement. The Hoops have certainly had to work for their wins, even harder than one would have expected going into the games on several occasions.
This weekend is the perfect example of that, as they were minutes away from dropping points at home against bottom placed Dundee United. It took two late goals, from Kyogo and Liel Abada, to rescue the Hoops and grab three precious points.
Of course, while one has to applaud this side’s incredible spirit, nobody can deny that Dundee United gave them a scare and a half on the day.
When it comes to the Rangers, they do appear to be sliding down at this point of time, as Van Bronckhorst finds himself under immense pressure to turn things around.