EXCLUSIVE
‘He’s deluding himself’ – Martin O’Neill rips into Graeme Souness’ Celtic vs Rangers claim following Old Firm derby mauling
Martin O'Neill has rubbished the claim made by Graeme Souness that the gap between Celtic and Rangers is not so very vast after all.
It was Celtic who emerged as 3-0 victors when the Old Firm met at Celtic Park last weekend.
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It continued the pattern set last season where Rangers failed to record a single win over their rivals, who continued their dominance over the Scottish Premiership.
In the end, they finished eight points clear of the Ibrox outfit after Rangers cracked under the pressure of the title race.
However, former Rangers midfielder Souness appeared on talkSPORT after the most recent Old Firm fixture to discuss exactly how the Scottish rivals measured up against each other.
And despite the comfortable victory for Brendan Rodgers' side, Souness insisted that there was perhaps not such a difference between the sides after all.
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"No doubt about it, there is a gap," he had explained. "(But) that gap for me, looking at it, is that Celtic have better strikers.
"Those stats are not suggesting that they are absolutely turning up and mullering Rangers at Park Head. We (Rangers) finished last year second behind Celtic.
"At the end of the season, they spent £28million. We spent £14m - and they brought a lot of money in. So we're chasing them, but we're spending half the amount of money in the summer months.
"So there is a gap. Rangers are not in a healthy financial situation right now. Celtic are in a far better financial situation that allows them to go out and cherry-pick players.
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"Whereas Rangers are buying under pressure, where everyone they buy has to come in and do a job right now. That's a difficult situation to be in."
However, not everybody was quite so optimistic about the disparity in quality between the two teams at the moment.
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Former Northern Ireland international and ex-Celtic manager O'Neill took a rather more bleak view of Philippe Clement's team and their current situation.
And when asked what he had made of Souness' claims on the White and Jordan show, O'Neill did not hold back.
"He's deluding himself - absolutely!" he admitted. "Because there is a gap - there is a chasm between them.
Graeme Souness has Rangers stats argument ripped apart by Simon Jordan in fiery exchange after another defeat to Celtic in the Old Firm Derby
"Yes, in a game itself over a 90-minute period, they might actually be close. And if you're only beaten by 1 or 2-0, then you can make all sorts of thoughts about it (being close).
"But actually that game (last week) wasn't close at all. Celtic were far, far better.
"And the idea that Rangers only spent less money is because of the demise of Rangers for the last number of years. But it's been terrible, it's really been terrible.
"And it doesn't do Celtic any favours, I don't think, because for Celtic to be really strong and try to compete in European football... for them to be strong, Rangers have got to be strong.
"And Rangers are not. They're very, very poor. And the side, I would think is as poor a Rangers side as I have known in my time in football."
And the former Nottingham Forest midfielder believed that Rangers' showing last season summed up exactly how far away they were from being able to challenge Celtic in a meaningful way again.
O'Neill added: "Their recruitment doesn't look too strong at all. Forget about European football - just compete at domestic football!
"When I talk about a chasm, what I'm talking about is that Celtic have the ability to go away from home and win difficult matches that might cause a problem."
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"Rangers, you could not guarantee them going away from home and getting a result. Last year - and I know I'm not just putting it down to one fixture - but they had this chance of winning and of overturning this gap.
"And they were in a good position too, even after the Celtic game, which they drew.
"They go to Ross County, they took the lead against Ross County - and get beaten. A Rangers side should not be doing that."
With Celtic now preparing to embark on another Champions League campaign this year, O'Neill also believed that the failings of their domestic rivals would also actually be a serious disadvantage to them.
Celtic will face the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta, RB Leipzig and Aston Villa in the group stage of Europe's premier competition - but O'Neill believes the lacking quality of their rivals could make their campaign far more tricky.
"If I'm looking at it through Celtic eyes, you need Rangers to be strong," he explained. "You need them to be very, very competitive. And that keeps you strong.
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"Yeah, there will be a number of Celtic fans who will be absolutely delighted at the situation at this minute. But not for me.
"I felt at the time, going back 20 years (to when I was manager), coming into that environment where you had a really strong Rangers side, it galvanised you yourself to try and compete."
Celtic vs Rangers H2H record in last ten games
September 2024: Celtic 3-0 Rangers (Scottish Premiership)
May 2024: Celtic 1-0 Rangers (Scottish Cup)
May 2024: Celtic 2-1 Rangers (Scottish Premiership)
April 2024: Rangers 3-3 Celtic (Scottish Premiership)
December 2023: Celtic 2-1 Rangers (Scottish Premiership)
September 2023: Rangers 0-1 Celtic (Scottish Premiership)
May 2023: Rangers 3-0 Celtic (Scottish Premiership)
April 2023: Rangers 1-0 Celtic (Scottish Cup)
April 2023: Celtic 3-2 Rangers (Scottish Premiership)
January 2023: Rangers 2-2 Celtic (Scottish Premiership)