Former Rangers player Richard Gough has done something many of the Ibrox leaning pundits over here can’t bring themselves to admit – Celtic are better!
That was the verdict from the now California resident as he spoke about Celtic’s stranglehold over the Ibrox club and Scotland.
Gough didn’t stop at ‘Celtic are better’ — the former Scotland international joked he has to watch the Glasgow derbies from behind the couch for fear of Celtic giving the Ibrox club a doing.
Historically, Gough was part of a club and a side that was paid for on the never, never. The obsession with trying to outdo Celtic got the better of his former club and in 2012, they went into administration and finally liquidation.
Celtic nearly closed their doors in the mid-90s when Gough was in Glasgow. The tables haven’t only turned, Celtic are at the top of the food chain and it’s too much for a lot of the Ibrox support to bear.
Here’s what Gough had to say about Celtic and their dominance speaking to RecordSport: “I still get up and watch it at something like half past four in the morning here but I’m sitting behind the couch!
“It’s a hard watch for me, especially when my record at Parkhead was a good one.
“One of my good friends in the international team was Paul McStay and he was the best Celtic player that I played against during my time.
“But he didn’t have the team around him that I had.
“When we were together with Scotland we kind of knew it.
“Celtic were going through a difficult period at the time and we were buying all the best players, so it just made sense that we were going to win most of the games.
“And that’s what I see now.
“I don’t like to say it but Celtic have a better team than us at the moment, I think the majority of the Rangers supporters would agree with that.
“They have better players, they run around more.
“Stuff like that, if Rangers are going to beat them first they’ll need to match that energy.
“Look, Rangers have a decent group of players. We just haven’t won there enough over the last 10-15 years.
“The last four or five years have been much closer because the quality of players at Rangers has been better.
“But I still think at the moment Celtic are stronger and the league position proves it.
“The Japanese boys who have come in have all been very disciplined.
“They’re good signings and they’ve worked very well.
“Then, obviously, they brought in a manager who no-one knew very much about.
Gough then revealed he spoke to former Aussie defender Craig Moore when Celtic brought in Ange Postecoglou and curses Moore’s accurate prediction.
“But I spoke to Craig Moore about him at the time and he said, ‘He’ll get them going Goughie – he’s a good one!’
“And, unfortunately, he was right!”
Celtic will take on their Glasgow rivals at Celtic Park on Saturday. There will only be home fans inside the stadium after the latest row over allocations.
Celtic wanted to see their former allocation at Ibrox restored because the safety of their fans in the small corner of Ibrox was of huge concern. At least one Celtic fan needed stitches after the last game at Ibrox.
If Celtic win, it would virtually seal this season’s title. Let’s hope Gough is hiding behind his sofa once again.
