I can't fathom how Celtic are in the same boat as Rangers and Brendan Rodgers is right to crank up the pressure

Daily Record

3 days ago

Sutty can see what's clear to everyone and reckons Hoops rivals will be loving the unnecessary mess that's been created this summer
It's not just Celtic fans who are hacked off by the way the transfer window has gone.
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It's now blatantly obvious Brendan Rodgers is fed up as well.
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The manager's comments have got stronger and stronger as the weeks have gone on. But yesterday he really spelled it out in no uncertain terms.
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We can talk about fans' frustration but Rodgers feels the same way too – it looks like his patience his starting to wear a little thin at yet another window that hasn't gone to plan.
There's no need to try to work out any hidden messages any more. This was a clear warning – back me properly or I'm off at the end of the season.
You can't blame him. He's the one who will carry the can if things go wrong in Europe or at home.
And while the contract situation is the elephant in the room, it could be clearer in the next few weeks.
If Rodgers doesn't get the backing he wants and needs, it WILL look like the club is treading water rather than matching his ambition.
He's cranking up the pressure on the board and it's now over to them to deliver. It's all a bit unnecessarily messy really – and it's a major leg up for Rangers.
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They'll be loving all this. They've obviously won the Pre-season Cup for about the 10th summer in a row. But perhaps they should cool their jets a bit for now.
Martin's team pulled off a huge result against Panathinaikos in the Champions League. I've been a bit taken aback by some of the reaction to it.
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You'd think they got thumped by the Greeks rather than secured progression to the next stage. They got the job done and that is what it is all about.
People can say that Panathinaikos dominated but what did they expect?
Of course there would be periods of pressure. Yet when you look at it overall, there weren't actually that many clear-cut chances created.
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The Greeks were pretty hopeless in the final third but Rangers toughed it out and got the result.
They deserve massive credit for that. It's clear there is still a lot of work needing done though.
There are issues over the frontline with question marks over Danilo and Cyriel Dessers still hanging around when everyone thought he'd be gone.
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The same goes for Hamza Igamane and that's not an ideal situation. But Rangers have recruited some interesting players. I've got a close friend who follows Sheffield Wednesday and they tell me Djedi Gassama is a player.
He's made a heck of a start though and now with Mikey Moore arriving, Celtic fans must be looking at all these wingers and wondering how they can do it and not them.
It's understandable Rangers are a work in progress. It's unfathomable Celtic are in the same boat.
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You get the feeling the supporters could really turn at any moment and Rodgers has now put the ball firmly in the board's court.
Look, there's every chance Celtic could snap up three or four players in quick fashion like in the past and everyone is left wondering what the fuss was about.
It's not happened yet though and that's why Rodgers' warnings have grown louder. Jahmai Simpson-Pusey arriving is an interesting one.
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He'll not be coming from Manchester City to sit on the bench but is he going to support or replace Cameron Carter-Vickers?
By the sounds of it, Carter-Vickers is going to need a good few weeks to get up to speed after surgery in the summer, so it's perhaps a smart move.
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It's also a long season so you'd imagine Simpson-Pusey will get plenty of game time. We all know the issues are further up the pitch – and they'll need to get it right.
All jokes aside about Rangers' pre-season optimism, this is not like the days of Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha.
Last season may have ended up a procession for Celtic but it's anything but a formality this time around.
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I know from experience it doesn't take much to tip the scales in Scotland and that's why Celtic need to be wary.
It's not always about the derbies. It's about getting results against the rest and you have to fancy Martin being better in that regard than Philippe Clement.
It's not just Rangers who they need to keep an eye on either. It does look like the Premiership will be stronger this season.
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Aberdeen will have the Scottish Cup bounce, Hearts are looking in solid shape under Derek McInnes and Hibs were desperately unlucky against Midtjylland but seem to have picked up where they left off last season.
Then you've got Dundee United, who, like Rangers, got the job done in Europe and could be a difficult challenge again. At the other end, you fear for Dundee after the bonkers decision to bin Tony Docherty.
It's not Steven Pressley's fault but he's had to pick up the pieces and his squad looks well short. You'd fancy Livingston under David Martindale to ruffle a few feathers again and they might surprise some people with the way they play these days. There are plenty of teams out there who have the ability to trip up the big two on any given week.
In the meantime, it looks like Celtic are tripping themselves up – and inadvertently they've made this coming campaign an exciting prospect.