Rangers are five points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership with two games in hand; Brendan Rodgers’ side lost to Hearts on Saturday, their second league defeat in a row; the Ibrox side clinched the Scottish League Cup on Sunday with victory over Aberdeen.
Former Rangers striker Kenny Miller believes the Celtic fans are beginning to panic now their Old Firm rivals are back in the Scottish Premiership title race.
After a shock 2-1 defeat at Kilmarnock, Brendan Rodgers’ side lost 2-0 to Hearts on Saturday as they fell to back-to-back league defeats for the first time in a decade.
Rangers can now move to the top of the table if they win their two games in hand with the sides set to meet in the East End of Glasgow on December 30, live on Sky Sports.
Miller, who also had a spell at Parkhead, insists it makes the season more exciting with Celtic no longer dominating.
“I just don’t think Celtic are playing right at the top of their game,” he told Sky Sports News.
“It’s very, very rare that Rangers or Celtic to lose two games in the league in a row unless one of them has been against each other.
“I don’t really think it’s a blip, but they’ve allowed Rangers back into the title race.
“I think that’s what you can sense in the stands was maybe just a little bit of panic setting from the fans, not necessarily with Brendan and his players.
“They sense that Rangers are moving in the right direction, they’ve got a new manager who is a winner and isn’t going to demand lower standards.
“The Celtic fans can just sense that there is a real title race on their hands, while two months ago they probably thought they had it all sewn up.”
Rangers secured the Scottish League Cup title for the first time since 2011 on Sunday as James Tavernier scored in their 1-0 win against Aberdeen at Hampden Park.
It saw manager Philippe Clement secure silverware at the first time of asking, something Miller insists should not be underestimated.
“I think when he came in there were a few boxes that needed to be ticked in terms of getting more from the current group,” he added.
“Always winning is a demand that’s on Rangers players and staff every single time, but he had a Europa League campaign to try and navigate his way through as well as a cup final to reach with a semi-final against Hearts on the horizon.
“He’s navigated everything and I think he’s ticked every box and you could see him celebrating and what it meant to him and what it meant to the team to get that first bit of silverware.
“What you’re hoping from a Rangers perspective is that they can build momentum.
“They’ve found themselves right back in the mix with the title race as well over the last couple of weeks all the momentum seems to have shifted to the blue side to Glasgow at this moment.
“It was a really important win because had it not gone Rangers’ way there could have been the exact opposite effect on this Rangers team, but they got the job done.”
Despite Clement turning the Ibrox side’s fortunes around since being appointed in October, Miller hopes he will be able to add to the squad in the next transfer window.
“He’s had two months to work with them and he’ll know exactly where he needs to strengthen,” Miller said.
“I would imagine Rangers will strength, but it’s a tough market in January to go and get the right players that are going to fit the way you want to play.
“I would imagine you’ll see a couple of players come in and maybe one of the top end of the pitch, whether it be a striker of a winger.
“They are a little bit light in midfield, Dujon Sterling played alongside John Lundstram [vs Real Betis and Aberdeen] and both were excellent, but moving forward the manager may want a player that his specialised position is to go and control the game from there.”
Leave a Reply