Back in 2018, former Rangers chairman Dave King famously said Celtic were like a “pack of cards” and would fold under the pressure of an Ibrox title charge.
Whilst King was referring to the Celtic finances – which are largely dependent on either Champions League money or high profile player sales – in many ways it can be attributed to the club as a whole.
There’s a real end-of-days feeling to what’s going on at Celtic as both the club and their supporters come to terms with a strong Rangers and weakening Parkhead club.
Those comments of King’s have resurfaced in recent days as Celtic Park looked like the last days of Rome following their League Cup exit to Ross County.
The nervousness is palpable and Rangers’ grand plan appears to be in its final stages as those across the city come to terms with their recent run of woeful form.
“We appoint a manager who can win games, with more resources, and we take one league away from Celtic,” said King [Herald].
“We only need one league. We don’t need two or three. We need one. Once we take one away, it’s a pack of cards.
“With all Celtic’s resources, they are not a million points away from Aberdeen or Hibs.
“They (Aberdeen and Hibs) have resources that are far less than what we have at the moment. We are bringing in a manager we think can tip the balance in our favour.
“Celtic’s costs structure is more like we were 10 years ago. We needed Champions League football and if we went into the Europa League we were in trouble because the cost structure was so high.
“Take that away for one season and it will change the numbers in the Celtic side very, very quickly. They have the comfort levels we once had of knowing we were going to get Champions League money.
“We have to take that away from them and hopefully we have started that process on Friday.”
That process has since overseen Rangers rebuild a playing squad over the last two-and-a-bit seasons which is now proving it is more than capable of challenging Celtic.
Off the pitch and on it Celtic are certainly folding like a deck of cards as their fans react that vehemently to Celtic’s recent form even Rangers fans are astounded.
But to really test King’s theory the Ibrox club need to go on win that hallowed 55th league title before qualifying for a spot in the Champions League group stages.
Rangers fans might be growing in confidence that this is the season it could happen for the Gers – but there’s a long way before we play our final hand just yet.
