With a new manager in place, it will be interesting to see if the Rangers can turn their season around. They have already stumbled plenty of times, with Michael Beale shown the exit door recently as a result, as his team went seven points behind Celtic in the first seven games. Philippe Clement is the new man in the Ibrox hot seat and he has a big task on his hands for sure.
Of course, Celtic cannot afford to take their foot off the gas for a second. It is way too early in the season and there is no place for complacency.
Brendan Rodgers is a veteran of many a title-winning team and he will know that very well. And while this is a team filled with youngsters, there are still a number of proven winners on the roster.
The same cannot be said about the Rangers. Clement did enjoy some success back in Belgium though, winning three league titles on the trot. And it looks like Kris Boyd is not giving up his hopes of a comeback from the Ibrox side just yet.
Boyd makes Celtic claim despite lead over Rangers
Boyd does not think that this Celtic team is as good as the one Rodgers managed the first time around. The former Rangers player wrote in his column in The Scottish Sun:
"Winning any league is tough, but to then back it up twice is no mean feat.That suggests Clement will not take his foot off the gas if he does turn Gers into winners again.At Monaco, it didn’t quite work out in the long-term, but he still improved them considerably as a team during his time in Monte Carlo.Getting Rangers’ strikers back into the habit of scoring goals will be his biggest task.If he can do that then his chances of closing the gap on Celtic will increase.Yes, they are a bit ahead at the moment, but this is not a vintage Celts side by any stretch of the imagination.It’s not like Brendan Rodgers’ team the first time around when they were miles ahead of Rangers, although they do have more proven winners and prolific attackers."
Clement did get off to a good start for the Rangers, winning 4-0 against Hibernian. Of course, most Celtic fans would have been expecting a new manager bounce at Ibrox. That was the case with both Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Beale.
It is about producing sustainable and long-term results. That is something the Rangers have struggled to do for many years now. But that being said, Clement has more pedigree than their recent managers and this could actually be an interesting challenge for Rodgers.