‘Awful’ Rangers are spilling points at alarming rate..Celtic could be out of sight by next derby, says Kris Commons
KRIS COMMONS has branded Rangers 'awful' and has warned that Celtic could be out of sight by the next Old Firm derby.
The Light Blues stunned German giants Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League with a 6-4 aggregate win following a brilliant win in Germany and a 2-2 draw at Ibrox.
But form domestically has been a worry, with 11 points dropped in eight games since the return from the winter break.
That has allowed Celtic to take over top spot in the race for the title with the reigning champions failing to capitalise on dropped points from Ange Postecoglou's men yesterday.
The Hoops were held to a 0-0 draw by Hibs in Sunday's early kick-off but Rangers let a two-goal lead slip as they drew with Motherwell at Ibrox, leaving them three points adrift at the top.
In previous seasons, Rangers suffered similar collapses under Steven Gerrard and Commons reckons it could be happening again under Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Speaking in his Daily Mail column, he said: "For Giovanni van Bronckhorst, the numbers since the winter break do not make for kind reading. In fact, they are awful.
"Since the Premiership returned in January, Rangers have now played eight games in the league, winning on only three occasions.
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"They have now dropped 11 points in those eight games, blowing a six-point lead over Celtic at the turn of the year to now trail their rivals by three points.
"OK, so they got away with it yesterday in the sense that they didn't lose any more ground. Celtic were poor against Hibs and didn't deserve to win.
"Ange Postecoglou's side have got their own issues to deal with after a painful European exit at the hands of Norwegians Bodo/Glimt.
"But for me, it's Rangers who are the main talking point just now. For all their progress in Europe, the wheels are falling off domestically.
"They are spilling points at an alarming rate - and this run of form simply is not sustainable if they are to maintain a title challenge against Celtic.
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"They have been here before. During Steven Gerrard's first two seasons, you could almost set your watch by how they would fall apart as soon as we got to the turn of the year.
"That now looks like it's happening again. This has to be a huge concern for Van Bronckhorst. When your rivals drop points in an early kick-off you have to capitalise. No excuses."
Rangers and Celtic go head-to-head in the league in a matter of weeks and Commons reckons the current slide needs addressed as quickly as possible or the Hoops could be out of sight.
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He added: "Van Bronckhorst needs to stop the slide, which won't be easy given their continued progress in Europe.
"That could stretch the squad to its limit to keep on going Thursday-Sunday, Thursday-Sunday. The blessing for Celtic is they no longer have that problem.
"They can devote 100 per cent of their focus and energy into winning a league title from now until the end of the season.
"Rangers will, of course, argue that they will do the same. But the way in which they've spilled points after two huge results against Dortmund suggests a problem with their mentality.
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"It's something they need to address as soon as possible. If they don't, then Celtic might well be out of sight by the time they visit Ibrox for the next Old Firm match on April 3."
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