It would be safe to say that the Rangers are not having a good season right now. As things stand, they sit 11 points behind Celtic in the Premiership table. Philippe Clement's side are not even second at the moment. Aberdeen are ahead of them although the Dons' rapid loss in form means that the Ibrox club have been handed a chance to close down that gap.
It will take a collapse at Celtic for the Rangers to even get close to their Glasgow rivals. That is not impossible though. We saw the Hoops struggle for form at times last season and let slip of a convincing lead at one point.
Not many Rangers fans will have any hope of seeing their team close down the gap with Celtic. Clement does not seem to be giving up though, even citing Manchester City as an example.
As reported by The National, Clement said:
"Nothing ever in a season is decided in December about the season.
"I think Manchester City a few years ago was a really good example because everybody didn't give them any chance in December and everything was bad, but they won a treble."
Philippe Clement makes bold Man City claim amid struggle to catch Celtic
Let's just say that the Rangers are not Manchester City. And Clement certainly is not Pep Guardiola. But that being said, it is true that it is far too early for Celtic to start getting complacent.
There is a long way to go in the season. This is the same mantra that Brendan Rodgers appeared to follow in the previous campaign when Celtic were the ones struggling and it did end quite well for the Hoops, as they won a Premiership and Scottish Cup double.
Celtic do have the experience of winning trophies on a consistent basis though, which the Rangers don't. As a result, it will be a lot more difficult to stop them from going on a good run towards the end of the season. Also, one cannot overlook the record of the teams when it comes to Glasgow Derbies over the last few years.