Do Celtic have squad depth to cope with injury crisis after two fresh blows?
A former England and Liverpool star has been talking about Rangers and Celtic’s European hopes.
Rangers and Celtic have been told they’re bound to find wrestling with Europe’s best an increasingly difficult challenge.
John Barnes has been assessing both sides of Glasgow, as both compete in the Europa League this season. Scottish football can be talked down as inferior south of the border but both have bucked that trend in recent seasons, with Celtic competing in the Champions League in recent years while Rangers have proven a force in Europa League territory.
The England and Liverpool hero - who briefly managed Celtic in the 90s - says the pair are viewed south of the border as a Europa-level side. In a warning over their ambitions at the top table - with first place in the Premiership earning a crack to qualify for the league phase of the Champions League - Barnes says finances make it tough for the pair to make the required advances.
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When asked if achievements like Celtic in the Champions League’s league phase or Rangers’ Europa League run had changed Old Firm perceptions down south, Barnes said: “Well, that's not in the last four or five years. I mean, it's always been that way. You can go back to the good old Rangers days with Mark Hateley when they were, you know, Champions League and they were spending lots of money with Paul Gascoigne and people like that.
“Those days have gone and what you could then see is Celtic and Rangers not necessarily progressing in the Champions League but doing okay in the Europa League if you like. So I don't think that perception in the last seven or eight years has necessarily changed. It's difficult for them and you can see now what's happened to them in the group stage of the Champions League.
“It's always going to be hard because gone are the days when they could get the Mark Hateley’s and a Mark Walters and people like that. As much as football has evolved in terms of so much money coming into the Premier League now, you have to look at it and say even mid-level Premier League teams now are stronger and even more financially capable than Celtic and Rangers. So it's always going to be hard for them. They're two huge clubs, great fan bases, but in modern football, it's going to be hard for them to compete with the rest of Europe.
Will Brendan Rodgers return to Premier League?
Meanwhile, Barnes can also Brendan Rodgers back in the fold at Premier League level. The former Hoops boss has experience most recently with Leicester City and Liverpool and is now on the lookout for his next challenge after walking out at Parkhead. While a top end job might be out of reach, Barnes reckons Premier League sides would welcome the Irishman into their inner sanctums.
When asked if he could see Rodgers back in the Premier League, Barnes responded: “I can. He's a good manager. Not necessarily at one of the top four or five club, but at Premier League level, if you want a proven manager who's got a good track record, who's a good coach, who's a modern coach.
“Who knows how to handle modern players with his methods and his management style, I think that I can see him back because of course there's a merry-go-round around in football all the time. So yeah, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
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