Most Celtic fans likely wouldn't have taken much notice when Rangers chairman Dave King talked disparagingly about the success of his side's bitter rivals during the week, as his comments were difficult to take seriously.
King claimed that as Rangers were 'in the wilderness for four years', Celtic should have had a bigger gulf in class to their arch-rivals, this is despite the fact that Brendan Rodgers' men won a domestic treble, passed 100 points in the league with ease, and finished a cool 39 points ahead of Rangers.
If his comments didn't upset many Celtic fans, then they did have an impact on striker Leigh Griffiths, who slammed King for what he said, labelling the idea as ludicrous.
The gulf couldn't be any bigger. They'll be trying to bridge the gap.
But for him to come out and say we should be further ahead is ludicrous.
What was the gulf? 30-odd points. How does he expect that to be bigger? They were touting at the start of last season that they were going to win the league and this and that.
Joey Barton was coming up and saying he was going to be the best player in Scotland - he lasted a few months. In the first [Old Firm] game, they got hammered 5-1 and they got hammered 5-1 at the end of the season.
So, the gulf couldn't be any bigger. This season, they'll be trying to bridge the gap. We just want to concentrate on our job and our job is to defend our title. And if we do that, we'll have no qualms about it.
He's spot on.
It was a strange decision by King to make those thoughts public. Whatever about him personally feeling that Rangers are in good shape as they try to bridge the gap, they would have been best kept in his head considering the overwhelmingly successful season Celtic have just enjoyed.
