Rangers have come a long way since Steven Gerrard took over at the club and the board backed him big time in the transfer market. However, the fact of the matter is they are likely to fall short of matching Celtic in the Scottish Premiership as the Hoops have an 8 points cushion at the moment.
However, not many fans would have expected Gerrard to deliver the title in his first season. Yes, there was a glimmer of hope of something like that happening especially when the Bears got the better of Celtic in the last derby. But it was always going to be an outside shot given Celtic’s overall quality.
The departure of Brendan Rodgers might have presented a little window of opportunity, but we expect Celtic players to close ranks and play for each other. To be fair, Gerrard’s only chance of a silverware looks like the Scottish Cup and that way he can at least stop Celtic from winning their third treble in a row.
However, there is no doubt that the expectations would be high for the next season. It is not yet clear who would take over at Celtic at the start of the new season as Neil Lennon has been employed to guide the Hoops up until the end of this current season.
Nevertheless, fans will have a lot more hope from Gerrard more so because he would have had a season of experience in football management.
We believe the upcoming summer transfer window is going to be the key factor on which team might dominate the next season. Celtic need to keep hold of some of their major star players as the likes of James Forrest, Kieran Tierney and Callum McGregor have been linked with a move to various English clubs.
Moreover, Dedryck Boyata is set to depart, and Filip Benkovic is also likely to return to Leicester City after the end of his loan spell. Not to forget, the likes of Oliver Burke, Timothy Weah and Jeremy Toljan are all on loan. Therefore the club needs to go through a major rebuilding phase, and if some key players depart, things could look tough for the Hoops.
Rangers aren’t too better off themselves as their best player Alfredo Morelos has already indicated that he might move this summer. Rangers also would need to make sure that they get the best possible price and replacement for the Colombian forward. To go with that, Ryan Kent and Joe Worrall who are integral members of the first team are just on a loan spell. So there again Rangers need to either sign them permanently or look for an equally better option in the market.
We expect the playing field to be more levelled next season and that is going to be a good thing for Scottish football. As for who will dominate next season, we think it all depends on the kind of business which both the sides end up doing in the summer transfer window.
