Barry Ferguson’s warning over Celtic’s decades of dominance
Soccer Football - Scottish Premiership - Celtic v Rangers - Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - April 8, 2023 Rangers manager Michael Beale shakes hands with Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou before the match REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
Barry Ferguson has warned that Celtic’s decades of dominance won’t come to a halt with the departure of Ange Postecoglou.
Soon after Celtic won the Scottish Cup against Inverness Caley Thistle it became clear that the Treble winning manager would be moving on to Spurs.
That will leave a massive gap to be filled by the hoops hierarchy which has been greeted like a trophy win by many Ibrox fans.
Postecoglou delivered five out of six domestic trophies but Celtic’s grip on silverware pre-dates the Australian with three different managers completing the clean sweep of domestic honours with Callum McGregor a constant throughout.
Ferguson has been on the inside and outside watching Celtic pile up the trophies, writing in the Daily Record he warned:
The sight of Ange Postecoglou leaving Celtic for Spurs will have delighted some of my old club’s supporters. But I’m not one of them. When I wrote last week that I didn’t want the big Aussie to quit for Spurs I meant every word of it, because I wanted Michael Beale to stand up to the challenge from across the city and then overcome it.
Put it this way, Celtic’s decades of dominance are not going to be ended by default. And it’s worth remembering that, while Postecoglou claimed five out of six trophies in his two years at Parkhead, this was just the latest part of a pattern which stretches back way longer than a couple of seasons.
In total, that’s 17 trophies they’ve picked up over the last seven campaigns. Just let that sink in for a moment. From the 21 that have been up for grabs over that period, they’ve stuck 17 of them in their own trophy cabinet. And if anyone at Ibrox thinks that’s even close to being considered acceptable then they don’t deserve to be inside the building.
Celtic’s SPFL title win provides them with a place in the group stage of the Champions League which takes away one of the big uncertainties.
Two years ago Ange Postecoglou faced a Champions League qualifier against Midtjylland ahead of the opening SPFL Premiership match away to Hearts.