It was one thing dragging Rangers to the top of the Scottish Premiership, now Philippe Clement faces a battle to keep his side their.
The Gers boss has been single minded in making sure that his squad is focussed on only their own form and ignoring the noise from elsewhere.
At Ibrox on Saturday, we saw just how focussed they were by hammering Hearts but Rangers and Philippe Clement will be looking over their shoulders with Michael Stewart predicting Celtic won’t be going away.
Rangers given title race backing under Philippe Clement
If Rangers five-star performance was Rolls Royce-esque, Celtic stuttered like a second-hand banger that would struggle to pass its MOT.
But, there is a lot to be said for winning when you aren’t playing well and eight wins and two draws in their last 10 games is the sort of form that most teams would die for.
Speaking on BBC Sportscene, Stewart thinks that the Light Blues still have the edge though but that there is plenty of work left to be done:
“Yes, I do feel they are slight favourites because the momentum is with them.
“But, having seen that today, with a bit of fight, a bit of desire and players coming back, I wouldn’t write Celtic off.”
It’s not often I find myself saying I agree with Stewart but, on this occasion, I do.
He’s right, it’s only two points and the nature of the post-split fixtures means that anything could still happen.
Points will be dropped by both sides between now and the end of the season, what matters is that Rangers keep the momentum that Stewart talks about going.
The narrative about players coming back is a strange one though.
Other than Reo Hatate, Celtic have a near fully fit squad to choose from.
Compare this to who is missing for Rangers and Philippe Clement isn’t getting the credit he deserves.
Not just for winning games, but because of the style of play.
Put it this way, if you took Celtic’s best striker, number 10, best winger and one of their other most dangerous attackers out of their squad would they still be able to grind out results?
The only narrative that matters though, is that Rangers build a relentlessness that is as good as a one goal head start.
A fear factor that seems to have shifted from one side of the city to the other.
