Celtic got their hands on the first major trophy of the campaign last weekend, recording a 2-1 victory over Rangers in the Scottish League Cup final at Hampden Park.
While the scoreline would suggest a close contest, it doesn't tell the full story of the game. Celtic were by far the better side, looking fairly comfortable throughout despite a late goal from Alfredo Morelos to get Rangers back into the game.
Ange Postecoglou's team certainly cemented their place as the best side in Scotland with that result, something that was never really in doubt considering the the respective league positions of the two clubs. The Hoops currently sit top of the division with a nine-point advantage over their Old Firm rivals.
Despite this, many at Rangers believe the gap between the sides is minimal.
Celtic fans laugh off John Lundstram Rangers claims
John Lundstram has been a mainstay in the Rangers team over the last few seasons, and despite being well behind in the league and having come up short in last week's final, he claimed today that the gap between his club and Celtic is not a big one.
🔊 LISTEN: “I don’t think there is a massive gap… it’s one game”.
Rangers midfielder John Lundstram doesn’t believe there’s a massive gap in quality between themselves and Celtic despite Sunday’s League Cup final defeat. pic.twitter.com/AmPlzXZtuy— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) March 2, 2023
It's just one game, we didn't turn up and they turned up. It looked like it was a massive gap, but I don't think there is a massive gap.
It's one game and it looked like that at the weekend. My opinion is that I don't think it's massive...
Alright, they're a few points ahead of us in the league, but we've showed that we're a really good team as well. At the minute they're a few points ahead of us but we don't think it's massive.
We've spoken internally, we've spoke about where we went wrong. That's on us, not them being 100 per cent better than us. I just thought we weren't ourselves and didn't get it right.
Of course, the recent evidence would suggest otherwise.
The nine-point advantage is a sizeable one, especially when you consider that Celtic have lost only one game in the league all season. In fact, the three meetings between the sides in this campaign featured two wins for the green side of Glasgow and a draw, with an overall aggregate score of 8-3 in their favour.
In short, the suggestions that the gap between the sides is a small one doesn't make much sense.
Unsurprisingly, Celtic fans couldn't help but laugh off these comments.
He's right. 1 game proves nothing.
Make both teams play all the other teams home and away, give 3 points per win and add them all up in some sort of league table at the end. https://t.co/98TUz3znW0— seanzolio (@seanzolio) March 2, 2023
I see the lessons in humility are going well. https://t.co/AfZKyeEDPm
— Danielle C (@Dani1987C) March 2, 2023
8 goals conceded in the last 3 derby games. Bottled both a final and a game where they could’ve cut the gap down. In the 8 derbys we’ve played since Ange has walked in they’ve conceded 14 goals against us. But aye John the gaps only small lad https://t.co/zwYeHphmvu
— Reiss 🏴 (@ReissFerguson) March 2, 2023
It's not just 'one game' though. Celtic are 10 points better off than this point last season while Rangers are only 2 points. The goal difference has increased in Celtic's favour by +18. https://t.co/a7Ed6RzYSf
— Declan McConville (@DeclanRMcC) March 2, 2023
The problem for them is it was comfortable for Celtic but that isn't us at our best. We've destroyed them 3-0 and 4-0 in the past 12 months. They're lucky we really weren't at our best on Sunday. https://t.co/2cZ2VvvuFf
— Champions67 (@Champions_67) March 2, 2023
“It’s one game”
John you are currently 9 points behind and you’ve beaten Celtic once in the past 7 games, even then it was in extra time.
Shut up and go stare at a wall. https://t.co/CognTfqzSk— Conor (@ConorM67_) March 2, 2023
He's nearly crying ffs 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/dOwJCRLH5W
— Chris (@Christo20805012) March 2, 2023
Has he completely forgotten the 4-0 pumping 😂 https://t.co/HfeRjaX7L1
— Celtic Now And Forever (@celtic_now) March 2, 2023
They hired a motivational speaker and every time one of them opens their mouth it gives us motivation to train the dirt down further 😂 https://t.co/TGqZIPLDLT
— FergusMcCann 🇯🇵 バンネットマッカン (@BunnetMcCann) March 2, 2023
Doesn't even believe himself the eejit hahahahhaha https://t.co/U4osANgekV
— Saul McVeigh🇮🇪🇯🇲 (@mcveigh_saul) March 2, 2023
Yeah, it's fair to say it comes down to a lot more than just one game.
Perhaps Rangers players should concentrate on closing that gap on the pitch as opposed to press conferences.
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