Scottish football might have lost its essence in recent years but the dominance of Celtic football club is unparalleled throughout the past decade and Rangers’ return to the top-flight did not trouble them to maintain supremacy. The Hoops clinched a historic ‘double treble’ over past campaigns under Brendan Rodgers, the ex-Liverpool boss, who is now hoping for a better contest and tougher title defence following the Gers’ appointment of iconic former Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard as their new manager.
The Light Blues have been humiliated time and again whenever they locked horns with great rivals Celtic in Old Firm derbies since Premiership return and failed to dethrone the Hoops and stop them from winning seven successive league titles. But the appointment of Gerrard has now alerted Rodgers – the Parkhead boss who managed the Liverpool legend during his final years in Merseyside.
Despite his maiden senior managerial experience, Gerrard has already proved his influence by wrapping up an array of new resources at Ibrox and his former boss, now a rival, is monitoring the situation of Hull City full-back Moses Odubajo in order to strengthen themselves further to retain the glory.
Odubajo joined the Hoops training camp to discuss terms and Rodgers, too, has confirmed about the preliminary talks he held with the 24-year-old defender. He was instrumental in the Tigers’ Premier League promotion a couple of years back but a serious knee injury ruled him out for past two seasons. Although Odubajo was offered new terms at KCOM Stadium, he has reportedly turned down an extension and is set to make himself available on a Bosman move upon expiration of his contract at the end of this month.
The former England youth international was progressing rapidly but the devastating injury blow shattered his Premier League dream as he had to witness their demotion painfully from the sidelines. But he is now up and running again but the severity of his injury is forcing him to seek a fresh start elsewhere. Hull had an underwhelming season in Championship and securing a move to Celtic Park, therefore, will be a step forward towards a new beginning.
Rodgers tied down Odsonnne Edouard on a club-record transfer fee from PSG following a successful loan spell last season but has been quite so far despite several rumours. He is aware of Odubajo’s talent since his Leyton Orient days but needs to assess him more before making a decision.
He will offer flexibility down the right flank due to his ability to feature as a right-back as well as a right wingback if a ‘back three’ is preferred. He is strong, pacy and holds great attacking intent with timely overlap runs, crosses and cut insides, but needs to prove his fitness first and recover fully to stake a claim in Brendan Rodgers’ plan.
