Brendan Rodgers has a lot of work to do over the summer to get Celtic ready for the new season ahead.
For the first time in three years, Celtic must negotiate a tricky Champions League qualifier if Rodgers wants to test himself against the elite of European football.
The Celtic manager restored the Bhoys’ reputation in the competition last season by qualifying from the group stage for the first time since 2013.
However, Celtic also have the added edge of now dealing with Rangers and the San Francisco 49ers after the American consortium completed the takeover of the Ibrox club this week.
But should the Parkhead club and Rodgers be worried about them? Not according to former Celtic hero Bobby Petta who sent a brutal reality check to Rangers and the 49ers.
Photo by SARI GUSTAFSSON/LEHTIKUVA/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by SARI GUSTAFSSON/LEHTIKUVA/AFP via Getty Images
Celtic told ‘it doesn’t matter what happens at Rangers’ amid San Francisco 49ers update
Bobby Petta was one of the Celtic heroes who took the club to their last European final back in 2003. He also helped end Rangers’ domination of Scottish football under Martin O’Neill.
So when the 49ers announced the takeover of the Ibrox club, Petta said it should be Rangers who need to answer the questions next season, not Celtic.
Petta told The Sunday Post, “For me, it doesn’t matter what happens at Rangers. Sure, keep an eye on it and be vigilant, but they shouldn’t be able to get too close to Celtic in the next year.
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“I think Celtic will win the league and that will be five-in-a-row. It’s getting higher and higher all the time.
“It’s up to Rangers to be stronger and more consistent to make a proper challenge over 38 games.
“Let’s see if they are capable of doing it under the new owners and the new manager. There are still lots of questions unanswered at Rangers.
“If I was at Celtic right now I’d be thinking to myself: ‘Bring it on and let’s see what you’ve got’. I would not be scared in any manner of Rangers.”
What 67 Hail Hail told BBC Sportsound about Celtic, Rangers and the 49ers takeover
I was invited to appear on BBC Sportsound to talk all things Celtic this weekend when the topic of conversation turned to Celtic fans and their thoughts on the 49ers’ takeover of Rangers.
When Kenny McIntyre asked if I, as a Celtic fan, was worried, this is what I said, “I don’t know if I would go as far as to say we’re concerned.
“I think for Celtic, it’s just business as usual. I think we’ve got such a good structure at the club that it’s Rangers’ job to catch us and we just keep doing what we’re doing.
“I mean, if you look at what Celtic have done in the past, when we lost the Scottish Cup semi-final [in 2016], we brought in Brendan Rodgers.
“When we lost the league in 2021 we tried to get Eddie Howe, one of the hottest young coaches. As it stands, we got Ange Postecoglou and the rest is history. Then we go and get Brendan Rodgers again.
“So whenever the question has been asked, Celtic have come up with the answers. So I think for us, we just need to keep doing more of what we are doing, and ask the question of Rangers, rather than the other way round.”
So it seems that Petta and 67 Hail Hail’s message is clear. Whilst the landscape has changed slightly, for Celtic, nothing really changes.
The Parkhead club are still well run, in rude health financially, have a solid foundation in the Celtic first team and also have a manager who knows what it takes to win trophies.
As long as Brendan Rodgers is given the funds he requires to strengthen the current Celtic squad, the Hoops support have nothing to worry about just yet.