Celtic captain Callum McGregor reckons the Hoops will rise to the challenge of a revitalised Rangers.
But this Celtic side are no great shakes anyway. Well, according to Rangers fans at least. With Brendan Rodgers even facing questions from one of his own, despite another treble being on the cards. It could only be the Hotline.
Stephen Mulhern, Dumbarton, was first up and said: “While I understand Callum McGregor's comments, people don’t understand to an extent how difficult it is for Celtic to continue their domination of Scottish football.
“The downside for me is bringing in the type of quality that Brendan Rodgers craves to take a step forward in the Champions League is becoming increasingly more difficult with the lack of a challenge up here. Top players will want to test themselves in the English Premier League and this will never change.”
Hoops fan Kenny Wilson, Moffat , emailed to say: “So it’s that time of year again when Rangers fans are full of optimism and telling us why they’re going to do this ORDINARY Celtic team. Let me tell you what an ordinary team is. It’s one that continually delivers disappointment to their fans and continually wins nothing! Ordinary teams don’t win trebles season after season and take Bayern Munich to the 94th minute of a second leg. We welcome the chase.”
Not everyone is confident that the future is as bright in the east end however.
Jimmy Murray, Edinburgh, said: “Rodgers has a couple of players, Johnny Kenny and Maik Nawrocki, who are getting rave notices in training. He refuses to give them a run in the team. Yet when serial injury prone Forrest is fit he’s right back in the first team.
“And now he’s asking the board for more money to waste on transfers. He’s obviously hoping the board refuses then he can have an excuse to leave. I hope he does. His time is up. His style of football is boring. Let’s hope he takes serial hangers on Kennedy and Strachan with him.”
A tough man to please…
Gerard Linnen takes aim at a Hotline regular, saying: “John Collins emailed saying that Celtic won trebles and trophies thanks to Craigy White but I would like to inform him he is wrong.
“The man who helped Celtic win all those trebles and trophies was none other than Fergus McCann who had a vision on how a football club should be run. So please Mr Collins get your facts right before you make stupid comments.”
Chris Lowe, Yoker believes that Celtic’s success has been down to the performances of the man in the middle, and not someone in green and white - or the Parkhead boardroom.
He said: “No wonder Calum McGregor is confident and is saying bring it on. I would be too with Collum’s hand picked Celtic minded officials getting all the big games Let’s be honest if it wasn’t for Muir, Conner and Walsh robbing Rangers in the last two cup finals they wouldn’t be so successful
“Watch who gets the gig for the cup final, Aberdeen would be as well not turning up as they’re not playing with a straight bat.”
In fact the reasons for Celtic’s domestic dominance in the eyes of some rivals are coming thick and fast.
Alec Morrison via email said: “As much as Celtic are world beaters in their own eyes, one day they will realise Rangers handed them everything, once in four games we have been beaten in 90 mins from that lot.
“Our rotten team with a lack of consistency and lack of leadership cost us this season's league. Admit it Bhoys, you have been handed a lot from Rangers recently.”
There was more not-so-friendly inter-Hotline fire from Henry Moffat, Stirling who said: “Caller George Wilson only fooling himself, Celtic are 100 percent Scotland's leading European club.
"They play at a higher level and are getting better year on year whereas Rangers cant even qualify and will always have that embarrassing worst ever club in thirty years of the original format record. We are getting Scotland's pride back at that level.”
George Wilson, West Sussex , meanwhile was leafing through the history books to stress that Celtic's 1967 European Cup win wasn't all that impressive...In his eyes at least.
He said: “The clown that is Gordon Ashley is at it again with his well-practiced moving the goal post routine.
“He's been bragging for weeks about Celtic being the world's most successful club. Now it’s been pointed out to him they are not, he is saying it has to be a club who has also won the European Cup.
“I'm old enough to remember when Celtic won it in 1967 when it was a shadow of the present day tournament.
"Celtic played a total of five teams and nine games in the whole tournament and of their five opponents four of them were the mighty Zurich, Nantes, Vojvodina and Dukla Prague whom most of you will never have heard of.
“Inter Milan in the final was the only name of note. Back to the drawing board Gordon.
Whilst the Glasgow bickering continues, could it be time for a third force to emerge?
Record Sport columnist Tam McManus couldn’t believe Hibs stars had been overlooked for the Player of the Year nominations, but that suits Neil Renton in Leith .
He said: “I don’t care that Hibs players have been overlooked for various end of season awards.
“We all know that after we gave the rest of Scottish football a head start with such a poor run when the season kicked off we’ve been the best team in the country.
“Our real prize this season has yet to come while next season I expect it to be between Celtic and Rangers in who finishes second to us.”
