Former Celtic favourite Lubo Moravcik has stated that Celtic’s period of success was underwhelming without Rangers as direct competitors.
Following Rangers demotion to the fourth tier in 2012, their Glasgow rivals were able to embark on a free-run at silverware for much of the last 10 years.
The Slovakian made the admission in an interview carried by the Daily Record:
Moravcik commented, “Rangers being in the lower tiers were a loss for all of Scottish football.”
“For several years, Celtic had nobody to compete in their domestic backyard and lacked demanding matches including the tension of the Old Firm games.”
“The Scottish league was very boring.”
“In the Netherlands, Ajax has to battle with Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven, in Poland Lech Warsaw and Lech Poznan are great rivals.”
“But in Scotland, Celtic had no one to fight with.”
“Eventually, Rangers came back and they have surprised everyone this season. Steven Gerrard has done a very good job.
“Back when I played, both the Glasgow clubs could compete with teams from England, now there is a gap between them.”
“I haven’t been able to visit Glasgow during Covid, but hopefully I will be able to get back soon.”
“I can never forget those Old Firm derbies I played in because they were amazing.”
“I always feel great in Glasgow because Scots love their football and get very excited about it.”
To most, including ex-players like Moravcik, there is an obvious question mark against Celtic’s run of nine consecutive titles, including the one that was not won on the pitch last season.
Rangers issues meant that until the last three seasons, the playing field has been extremely unbalanced.
That makes the implosion of this season over at Celtic even more remarkable given that their dominant position is now eradicated on the pitch and is slender off it.
A huge rebuilding job awaits at Celtic over the Summer as they prepare to witness Rangers long-awaited, expected 55th title celebrations over the next few months.